Turn Back the Clock
by JasonMorganFan
Summary: Can Jason and Elizabeth get it right if they get to go back and do it over again?
1. Chapter 1

What if you could choose to go back and fix a mistake from your past? Would you do it, knowing that your life, and everyone's that you know, would be completely different from what you've already lived? What would change, what mistakes would you fix? Would going back make things right, better, or would you end up making everything worse for yourself and everyone around you? Would you do it, if you could?

For the purposes of this story, there is no Aiden. Elizabeth did sleep with both brothers, but no pregnancy or "who's the baby daddy" repeat storyline.

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Not the setting, not the characters, not the storylines (well, at least I can thank God for that!). If I did own it – it would be hella lot better than that crap they're shoveling! Don't sue me, cuz I can't pay. There will be dialogue from the show, in different places, but I will also add and change dialogue to suit me and my story.

**Turn Back the Clock**

**Chapter One**

Jason and Dante were trying to talk some sense into Michael. They are trying to convince him that he needs to be more careful. Hearing his cell phone ring, he pulls the phone out of his pocket. Looking at the caller ID, he swears that the world, and everything in it, including his heart, just stopped. The name on his phone is the very last name he ever expected to see on his phone ever again. Since that dreadful day in December three years ago, he didn't think she would ever call him again, considering their arrangement. Opening the phone with much trepidation, he breathes the name he thought that would never cross his lips again, "Elizabeth….what's wrong?" He knows something has to be really wrong for her to be calling him.

Tears streaming down her face, she can barely get any words to cross her lips, "Jason, I need you. Jake….Jake, he's been hit by a car. I'm so, so sorry. Please, we're at the hospital, it's bad."

Barely glancing at the other two men in the room, he grabs the keys off the desk and runs out of the door. "I'm on my way. It's going to be OK, Elizabeth. Jake's gonna be just fine, he's a strong kid, okay," he tells her with more conviction than he really feels.

"Please hurry," she says, then hangs up.

Michael and Dante had followed him out of his penthouse as he was getting on the elevator. "Jason, what's wrong? Was that Elizabeth on the phone?" Michael asks worriedly.

Not knowing how he is managing to hold it together, "Yes. Jake's been hit by a car and is at the hospital. Elizabeth says it's bad. I don't know anything else right now." Running out of the elevator, Jason jumps in his black Escalade, Michael climbs in the passenger seat, and he takes off. Breaking every speed and traffic law, Jason stops the SUV in front of the emergency room doors and jumps out of the car, leaving it running and Michael still inside.

Bursting through the doors, Jason looks frantically for Elizabeth. Seeing her just standing and staring at the same doors that Michael had been taken through all those years ago when he had been shot in the head, Jason runs up to her. Touching her shoulder, he asks "Elizabeth, have they told you anything yet?"

Looking up at him with tears streaming down her face, she all but collapses into his arms. Hugging her tightly to him, he does his best to soothe the raging storm within her. Barely able to talk coherently, she tells him that they are prepping him for emergency surgery. He had bleeding on his brain, she tells him, and other injuries, but that's the most threatening one. Jason, of all people, knows how serious head injuries can be. His life was never the same after he was in a car accident and slammed his head into a rock when he went flying out of the car his brother AJ was driving.

Walking Elizabeth over to the chairs, he sits her on his lap, not caring who could see. She buries her face in the crook of his neck and cries. Rubbing his hand gently up and down her back, he's trying hard to remain calm and strong for the mother of his only child, his son. "Oh God, you must hate me," she cries. "I promised you that Jake would live a happy and safe life, and now he's here. It's all my fault."

"This is not your fault, Elizabeth. You didn't hit Jake," he states firmly. "You love him with your entire being and he has been safe and happy."

They continue to talk some more, Elizabeth trying to convince Jason it's her fault Jake is in the hospital. Jason is trying to convince Elizabeth that it's not her fault. He finally realizes that he hasn't seen Lucky. "Where's Lucky?" he asks.

"I don't know, I can't get him to answer his phone. He was going to the Justice of the Peace to get married to Siobhan tonight. That's why I had the boys to begin with, it was supposed to be his night with them," she sobs. "I've left him a dozen messages."

They continue to sit and wait. Steven Webber, chief of staff and Elizabeth's brother, comes out from working on his nephew. Surprised and shocked to find his sister on the mobster's lap, he walks over to them. Jumping up from Jason's lap, Jason standing right behind her, hand-in-hand, "How's Jake?" she asks.

"We've stabilized him enough for surgery. Patrick and Robin are taking him up there now. Why don't I take you somewhere private so you can wait for the surgery to be done?" he suggests.

Wanting to be as close to their son as possible, they follow Steven to an unused conference room. "I'll come back as soon as I have any news, okay?"

Three and a half hours later, Elizabeth was still crying as she folded and unfolded the shirt that the paramedics had taken off of Jake. She wanted this to not be real. She wanted it to be a nightmare that she would soon wake up from. The only comfort she had was Jason's calming presence. He was slowing rubbing her back up and down, never stopping, never slowing down. It was if he knew she needed that connection with him.

The door to the conference room opened up. Glancing up, she suddenly didn't want the news that her brother's face told her what he was there to say. Tears in his eyes, he looks at the parents of his nephew, "I'm so sorry. There was too much trauma, they weren't able to save him."

"," Elizabeth screamed, collapsing once again into Jason's strong arms. They collapsed together on the floor both crying for their son, as Jason could no longer support his own weight.

Backing out of the room to leave the grieving parents alone for a few minutes, Steven turned to help set up his nephew on the life support equipment until they could talk to Elizabeth about donating Jake's organs for other children in need.


	2. Chapter 2

_**A/N: I'm so excited that I got a review, I thought I'd go ahead and post the next chapter. Thank you to DevilJolie for reviewing. BTW, in my head, I am using Greg Vaughn's Lucky, not Jonathan Jackson. I've never really been a JJ fan, but I do like GV, so that's who my Lucky is. You are welcome to picture any Lucky that you want, though – it's your imagination! Thank you to anyone else that has taken a moment to stop and read! I do apologize if something comes through that doesn't make sense. I started this story, then revamped part of it because I decided to change a few things. There are a couple of really short chapters, but they were necessary pieces of the story that needed to stand alone. Hope you enjoy! Oh, and I still don't own anything. I just borrowed and I will put them back when I am done playing with them!**_

**Chapter Two**

Lucky had finally listened to the increasingly frantic messages from his ex-wife which stopped abruptly about four hours ago. He and Siobhan had gotten married, then went home to celebrate. He had turned his cell phone off, never once considering the fact that something more important might require his attention. By the time he got to the hospital, it was too late. He had found Steven, who had imparted the tragic news. Now, he was angry. Angry at himself for not being there. Angry at Elizabeth for not watching Jake properly. His grief and anger were eating at him and he wanted to strike out at something, anything.

Seeing Elizabeth in the conference room in Jason's arms was enough to set his Spencer temper into full throttle. Storming into the conference room, he demanded, "What the hell is going on in here?"

Standing together as if they were one, Jason and Elizabeth faced Lucky to tell him what had happened to their son, the boy that Lucky has been raising as his son since Jake's birth. "Lucky," Elizabeth started. "Jakie was hit by a car…." She couldn't continue.

"Steven told me, he's on life support," he stated angrily. "Why the hell weren't you watching him, Elizabeth? How the fuck did he get out of the house and into the street? How could you let him get hit by a car?" he raged.

Jason, who could never stand when someone yelled at Elizabeth, stepped in front of her, "Lucky, don't you dare blame Elizabeth for this! She loves Jake, she would never hurt him."

Not wanting Lucky and Jason to come to blows, Elizabeth stepped out from behind Jason, "Lucky, I'm so sorry. I swear I locked the door when we came in. Jake was playing on the landing one minute and he was gone the next. I swear, I didn't hear him open the door."

She had to get out, she needed to get away from Lucky's anger. She knew he would blame her, hell, she blamed herself. She wanted to run away from all of the pain and anger rolling off of Lucky in waves. If anyone should be mad at her, it should be Jason. But, like always, Jason never blamed her. He constantly told her she was the best mother Jake could ever have. If Jason didn't blame, how could Lucky?

She moved to leave the room, she tried to step around Lucky. As his anger was boiling, he reached out and grabbed Elizabeth's arm and tried to yank her back, in the room. Just as Jason was moving to stop Lucky, Elizabeth yanked her arm out of Lucky's grasp, however she couldn't stop the momentum as she fell, slamming her head into the door frame. The blinding pain hit her suddenly, she briefly saw Jason trying to grab her and stop her from falling. Then, everything went black as she passed out. As she hit the floor, her head hit the floor – hard. Jason grabbed Elizabeth up off the floor and went running out to the nurse's station, yelling for help.

Epiphany Johnson called for Drs. Drake and Drake-Scorpio. Running around the desk, she grabbed the gurney and forced Jason to lay her favorite nurse on it, so they could examine her.


	3. Chapter 3

_**Thank you guys so much for taking the time to read and review! I really appreciate it! As a first time writer, I didn't realize how much I would enjoy knowing that people are reading, and actually liking, my story would be. I know these first few chapters have been very tragic, but I needed a good sad place to start, and Jake's death is by far the saddest that I know of.**_

_**As always, I own nothing! If I did, well then let's just say that Steve Burton would be mine! LOL! His wife is a lucky, lucky woman – that's all I've got to say! **_

**Chapter Three**

She was dying. She wasn't sure how she knew that. Oh God, what would Cameron do? Who would take care of him? She couldn't bear to leave him, she loved him, and the man she wanted to be his father, so much. It didn't matter that they had walked away from each other. It didn't matter that she and the boys were supposed to be safe. All she could think about was how foolish, how _stupid_, they were, thinking that not being together would keep her and the boys safe from harm. Look at her now, Jake was dead, not from any danger in Jason's life, but from an accident, a tragic accident. Now, she was dying too, and they were alone. Oh how she wished she could fix things. But what would she fix? How far would she have to go back to fix things? Back to when he asked her to leave Port Charles and see the world with him? No, then she wouldn't have her boys, and she loved them too much to wish them away! Where did it all go wrong, when did her life fall completely apart? When she lied…when she lied for all of those months about the father of her youngest son. She lied to her then husband, she lied to the father of her baby, and she lied to herself. That one lie started the chain of events that had her life snowballing to hell now.

Elizabeth thought about her past with Lucky. There were a lot of regrets on both sides. She knew they each had a piece of the blame for their marriage breaking up. As much as she loved Lucky, would always love the boy from her past, she knew that they were better apart than they were together. They weren't the same kids that pledged themselves to each other, or danced outside the Bacchanalia. They had grown up, and they had fallen out of love, no matter how hard they tried to convince themselves that they didn't. One thing that she could never regret, though, was her first night making love with Jason.

Jason…..the man that stole her heart when she wasn't looking. And she never asked for it back. She loved him with everything in her being, was in love with him still. They always said they had lousy timing, and they were so right. When she pushed, he pulled away. When he pushed, she pulled away. She knew now that he still loved her, and she knew why he walked away. If only she'd been stronger, if only she hadn't listened to Lucky and Sam. If only…dammit, she needed to stop thinking about the "if onlys", they were driving her crazy. Why, why did love have to be so complicated? 'Oh yeah, because the rewards are that much sweeter", she thought to herself.

Reflectively, she wondered how different things would have been if only she'd told Jason the truth about Jake from the beginning, or if she had told him after he'd been shot and asked her about what she'd said to him when she found him bleeding in the chapel. No, it wouldn't have been easy for Sam and Lucky to hear the truth, but maybe it would have been better. Would he still have tried to reconnect with Sam? Would he have pushed harder for her to marry him, before he got reinvested in Sam? Would she have been OK if he just wanted to co-parent with her and continue his relationship with Sam? Shit, she knows the questions are infinite. No one knows how they will react to any situation until they are faced with it. She knows she never gave Jason a chance because she was too worried about being an obligation, or worse, an annoyance to him. No, mentally shaking her head, never an annoyance. Jason cared for her too much for that, she knew. What if he _had_ loved her then? Did he? She still didn't know. Could she have truly been a mob wife? Could she really handle everything that came along with his work? Could she really trust that her children would be safe from harm? Why did she make the mistake of asking Jason to give up his son to Lucky? Why did she remarry Lucky?

That year, when she finally accepted Jason's proposal, his third, she had said 'yes'. Yes – to the danger, the secrets, the guards, the bulletproof glass, everything that went along with becoming a target in his world. But more than that, yes – to loving him and being loved by him - openly, freely and without reservation. Then Michael had been shot. And, once again, it was too dangerous for them to be together. It was too dangerous for Jason to claim his son. God, she hated the word _danger_! Life was about risk, and she had been willing to take it. She remembers telling him that "Love shouldn't be safe". She never could understand why he didn't think he could keep them as safe as possible. His life and the things that had happened had made him wary of trusting himself. Maybe he was worried to that his friends never wanted him to have a life that made him happy.

He was probably right. God knows, Carly can't stand playing second fiddle to any other woman in Jason's life. She'd rant, screech, scream and scheme to get any woman, well only her actually, out of Jason's life. And she always played the Michael card. 'You promised Michael', blah, blah, blah. And Sonny! She's never met a man more insecure and self-centered than that "mob boss". You'd think someone in his position would have a little more assurance about himself. Of course, knowing that your enforcer is the only reason that you're still a mob boss might be some _small_ excuse as to why Sonny was the way he was.

Just then, Epiphany Johnson, head nurse at General Hospital, walks in to take Elizabeth's vitals. Looking at the monitors, she quickly jots down her favorite nurse's stats. She's not happy with what she sees on the monitors and moves to check on Elizabeth. Elizabeth can feel Jason holding her hand, begging her to hang on, begging her not to leave him. Did he really say that? Wasn't he with Sam again? God, she's so confused. Drifting back down into the blackness, she can't think of anything anymore…..she's just so tired.


	4. Chapter 4

_**Thank you, again, to everyone that has read (and reviewed) my story. I know that this is a really short chapter, and I promise to update with the next chapter (which is longer) soon.**_

_**As always, I own nothing.**_

**Chapter Four**

Sitting on the edge of her bed, Jason takes her hand in his and gently kisses the back of it. He's having trouble seeing her looking so weak and pale. He's also having trouble forming a coherent thought. His chest is constricted with the knowledge that the head nurse, Epiphany, had given him. He doesn't want to lose her. It doesn't matter that they're not together anymore. As long as she was happy and safe somewhere in the world, he was….content, no, accepting of his choice that her and their children were not a part of his everyday life. Oh God, Jake is gone, the only thing keeping his body alive are the machines.

Watching the monitors, he sees that her heart is barely beating. "NO!" he cried forcefully. "No, you are NOT going to die. I need you to fight, Elizabeth. You need to fight. Cameron needs you…..I….I need you."

Tears blurring his vision, he reached down and gathered his Elizabeth in his arms, holding her close to his heart. His voice, thick with emotion, "I love you…..so very much." She felt so frail; he could feel her struggling to catch a breath, as he buried his head in the crook of her shoulder. Leaning back slightly, he gently caressed her lips with his own. "I don't want to let you go."

A sigh passed her lips one last time. The monitors beeping out wildly before flatlining.

"Noooooooooooooooooo!" Jason's tortured scream ripped through the hospital floor.

Doctors and nurses came running, grabbing Elizabeth away from Jason and attempting to resuscitate her. Jason slid down the wall, tears streaming silently as he watched them work on her for what seemed like hours before finally call her time of death. He prays like he's never prayed before, 'Oh God, please, just please bring her back. I can't lose her, I love her….she's everything to me. Please, please don't take her away from me. I will fix this, I will never leave her again, if you just bring her back to me. I will fix my life, I promise…'


	5. Chapter 5

_**Twisting and turning, which way will I go? Several reviewers have mentioned that they want to know when one of them will wake up and who will remember what. Well, this chapter will answer the second question. Keep sending me ideas! This story is by no means complete, and if your idea can work with where I'm going, I will use it! I know I keep saying it, but thank you, thank you, thank you for all of your wonderful support of my story! Ta-ta for now!**_

**Chapter Five **

The voices were getting louder and clearer, they were strangely familiar. "I think she's finally decided to join us." "Yes, she had to come in her own time." "How do you think she's going to take it?" "She's strong; she'll be fine, dear. Have faith."

Elizabeth opened her eyes to the bright sunshine, her vision quite blurry. Where's Jason? She knew she was in a coma. Was this some kind of comatose dream? Blinking furiously, she discovers she's not in her hospital room, but in what appears to be a beautiful rose garden. The smell of so many roses blooming is amazing and calming. Turning her head this way and that way, she doesn't see who the voices belonged to. Sitting up, she realizes that she was lying on a wooden bench. "Hello? Is anyone there?"

"Ah, my dear, it's so nice to see you again", a gentle voice calls out to her.

Startled, Elizabeth whips her head around to see Lila Quartermaine pruning one of the many rosebushes surrounding her. She was kneeling by the rosebush, no wheelchair in sight. It was so lovely to see her not in need of it. "Mrs…..ah, Mrs. Quartermaine? Uh, um, ah, am I ….. dead?"

Gracing her with her gentle smile, Lila shakes her head. "Yes, dear, you are."

"Oh. Is this heaven? Did I go to heaven? Where's my Grandpa Steve? I always assumed that when I died, I would get to see him again."

"Come here Elizabeth, I have a few things that we should talk about."

Getting up from the bench, she makes her way over to the rosebush that Jason's grandmother is tending. "Are these your roses, Mrs. Quartermaine?"

"In a sense, yes. I tend this garden and help my family when they arrive here."

"Oh. So, you've seen Emily and Alan, then?"

"Oh, yes, and I was so very sad to see them get here so soon. But, we'll get to them later, dear. Right now, you and I need to speak together."

"About Jake."

"Well, no, about Jason."

"Oh, I just assumed that since you said family, you wanted to ask me about your great-grandson."

"He is a beautiful child, so much like his father. But then, you already know that."

"Yes, he is very much like Jason. He looks just like him, I can't believe no one put it together. And for not being raised by Jason", she states, looking very guiltily at the older woman, "he acts very much like him, too. He's very quiet, a deep thinker. And he's absolutely fearless, too!" She stopped and looked around again. "Wait, you said you wait here for your family. I'm only your great-grandson's mother, I'm not family."

"Yes you are, darling. You would have been, if only you and my grandson had made the right choices." Lila explains.

Tears filling her eyes, Elizabeth hangs her head and looks at the ground. Wringing her hands together, she whispers, "Yes, I really made some big mistakes in my life."

Lila takes Elizabeth's hands and leads her over to the bench she was sitting on earlier. Sitting together on the bench, Lila rubs her hands over her charges' comfortingly. "It's alright, my dear. You made the best decisions you could at the time, with the knowledge you had. You also had a lot of people telling you what was best for you and your children. Unfortunately, most of those people only had their own selfish agendas in mind. I can, at least, say that my grandson was not one of them. He truly thought he was telling you what you wanted to hear. _However_, if he would have taken a much closer look, he would have seen that what you were saying was not really what you wanted, isn't that right?"

Gasping, Elizabeth looks up from their joined hands into Lila's eyes, which are identical to Jason's and their son's. Shaking her head sadly, "I was so confused back then. I had Jason's _friends_ telling me that he wasn't ready and it was too 'dangerous', that I wouldn't have to worry about my children being in danger because of being in his life. Then, there was my grandmother, continuously lecturing me on Lucky's virtues and telling me to overlook everything he'd done and forgive him."

"Yes, well, I'm going to have a little chat with Audrey one day about that," Lila chuckled.

"And….."

"And you had me, Nicholas and all of the Spencer's telling you that it was your job to put your life on hold and fix Lucky," came a voice from behind.

Jumping up, Elizabeth ran into a crushing embrace with Emily, her best friend. "Oh my God, Em! I've missed you so very, very much!"

Tears pouring down both of the women's faces, Emily responded, "And I've missed you, too. All of you. I'm sorry for saying all of those things to you, about forgiving Lucky. I wasn't a very good friend to you, at all."

"No, Em, you've always been my best friend, and you always will be! I understand that you were just trying to help Lucky, he's one of your oldest and dearest friends."

"Be that as it may, I still should have seen how miserable you were. I should have known your heart wasn't with Lucky anymore; I should have listened to you. YOU are my best friend!"

"Ladies," a deeper, gentle voice said.

Looking up, Elizabeth's eyes went wide, "Dr. Quartermaine."

"Alan, sweetheart. I'm not Dr. Quartermaine anymore, not here. Besides, the mother of my two grandsons should not have to call me by my professional name," Alan stated, chuckling.

"Grandsons?"

"Cameron and Jake. Cameron is your oldest boys' name, right?"

Tears springing into her eyes, yet again, and Elizabeth could only nod mutely.

Walking back over to the bench she had been sitting on a few minutes ago, Elizabeth was overcome with emotion. Emily sat down beside her while Alan sat on the other side of his mother. Emily was rubbing Elizabeth's back soothingly.

"Elizabeth, I hope it's alright that I think of Cameron as my grandson," he says, questioningly.

Nodding her head 'yes', she looks up and smiles at the Quartermaine family. Wiping the tears from her face, "I wish I had done things differently, then Cam would have known you as his grandfather."

"Well, there's time to fix all that."

Eyes wide, "What?"

"That's why we are here, my dear," Lila tells her.

"Wha….what do you….what are you trying to say?"

"Darling, you have a decision to make," Lila pauses. "You can choose to go back and do things differently, make the choices that you didn't make before. Change your life, your outcome and live your destiny with the man that you love."

Stunned, Elizabeth doesn't know what to say to any of this. Still reeling from everything that's happened since she woke up in the garden, she's not sure she understands what Lila is telling her. "I don't get it. I mean, we only get one life, one chance to live it, right? Why would I get the chance for a do over?"

"Because you deserve it, my dear."

Jumping up from the bench, Elizabeth started pacing back and forth. "I…..I deserve it?" she questions the older woman. "How could I possibly deserve it? I've kept Jason from his only child. A child that is now dead because I was too busy to pay attention and he walked out of my front door and got hit by a car! I begged Jason to let my drug addict ex-husband be his child's father so that I could, once again, choose Lucky over him. What about that makes me deserve to live my life over? Emily was murdered! Shouldn't _she_ get to live her life over? She was _robbed_ of _her_ life. I wasn't robbed of mine! I just royally screwed up, and after that, I kept screwing it up!"

"Elizabeth, you didn't do it on purpose. You _were_ trying to keep Lucky clean. You were trying to do the right thing for everyone involved. You thought Jason didn't want to be a father at first. You sacrificed your own happiness because you thought Jason loved Sam. You listened to everyone around you tell you how bad it would be for him to be Jake's father. You didn't keep Jake from Jason out of any desire to be mean to him!" Emily told her, grabbing her hands.

"Emily, Elizabeth, come here, please sit down, both of you. Now, Elizabeth, you do deserve this chance," Lila stated, holding up her hand as Elizabeth started to protest again. "You are a good, kind-hearted, loving person. You have a light inside of you that not many people have. Have you made some poor choices? Yes. Did you intentionally set out to lie and hurt anyone? No."

"But…."

"And," Lila continues, "you also did a lot of soul searching lying in your hospital bed. That is why you were chosen." Lila picks up Elizabeth's hands again. "You do not have to go back, if you don't want to. We are not going to force you to relive your life, if that's your choice. You can move on to the other side and be with the family that has passed before you. But, you do have a choice. All of those questions that you had, you can go back and make different decisions."

"Would I remember everything from my life before I went back? Or will I be stuck in the same life making the same choices again?"

"Yes, well, you could make the same choices again. And, while you won't truly remember your old life, your sub-conscience will recognize the right times to make different choices, those times will seem like a dream, some memory or knowledge just out of reach. Ultimately, it will be up to you to follow your heart or not, to truly be happy with your life. Jason, however, will remember this lifetime. Because it is he who needs to remember and move past the fear that has been holding the two of you back."


	6. Chapter 6

_**A/N: Sorry for another short chapter. Again, it's necessary in order to move the story along, but I didn't want to include it with the next chapter. Thank you for reading and reviewing and I hope you continue to enjoy it!**_

_**Disclaimer: Nope, still not mine!**_

**Chapter Six**

Jason wakes up in what looks like a chapel. Realizing his leg hurts, it feels like he's been shot. But who would have shot him in the hospital. And how did he get from the hospital to the chapel? 'Why the hell am I wet?' he wonders. Glancing around, he sees Elizabeth at the front of the chapel. He recognizes the dress that she's wearing. 'What the fuck is going on? That's the dress that I saw on her the night I was shot!' Not understanding how he could go from seeing Elizabeth die, to seeing her in a chapel wearing a dress he remembers from when he was shot years ago, he groans.

"Eliz….Elizabeth," he says, trying to get her attention.

Running around to the spot where Jason is lying, she sees him and drops to her knees beside him. "Oh my God, were you hit?" she asks. "Hey, can you hear me? Please don't die, okay. Please don't die, you have to stay with me, for the baby's sake. It's not Lucky's, Jason. This baby is ours," she tells him, cradling his face in her hands.

His eyes flutter open. He remembers now, he knows the important thing she said to him. He can't concentrate though, he's in so much pain, his leg feels like it's on fire. He briefly wonders if this was some sort of psychotic break in his reality. Why was he reliving this moment?

Frisking him frantically, she asks, "Do you have your cell phone on you? Where is it?" Finding it, "Here it is. Okay, I'm just gonna call…" It's not working, it's too wet from his time in the river. "Damn it…" she cries frantically, "can somebody help me….please! I need help!" Throwing the phone down on the bench, she turns back to Jason. Thinking that she needs to get her phone out of her car to call for an ambulance, she turns to leave. He remembers praying that she wouldn't die, that he would do anything to fix his life, their lives. He promised to never leave her if God would just bring her back to him.

"Stay…..stay," he tells her.

"No, no, it's okay, I'm gonna to the car and I'm gonna get the cell phone, okay?"

"No, no"

"But Jason, you've been shot, I have to call 9-1-1."

"No cops…..please."

"You need to be in the hospital."

"I just need a place to rest," he knows that he can't get caught by the police. Not after Ric set him up. He needs to think, he's got so much more to think about this time around. "Bring your car around the back." Wondering if this was some sort of trick that his mind was playing on him, at the moment, he doesn't care. He's in pain, but he's with his Elizabeth again.

"Okay, you need to listen to me. I cannot carry you, okay, and you cannot walk. You're gonna bleed to death, and we're wasting time," she cries. "So let's go."

"We can, we can…we can do this. I trust you." 'Oh God, if this is real, I promise, I'll never let her go again!'


	7. Chapter 7

_**A/N: I cannot thank you all enough for your encouragement of my story. Reading your words is even making my back feel better. My company lost power today due to some really severe thunderstorms that rolled through our city. Needless to say, we got to go home – bad thing was, in order to do that, I had to walk down nine flights of stairs and 4 blocks to my car. Anyhoooo, I'm home and ready to post this next chapter for you all! Hope you enjoy it! And keep letting me know where you think the story is going – I like seeing who is right, or close. **_

_**Disclaimer: I only wish I owned it! Don't sue – I'll put them back when I'm done! **_

**Chapter Seven**

He had forgotten how badly that bullet hurt. He really could have done without reliving this experience, but, if it gets him his family, his heart, and his sons, the pain would be worth it. Elizabeth had gotten the bullet out of his leg and stitched him up. She said his fever was coming down, that was a good sign. He just wished he could stay awake long enough to talk to her about what she said in the chapel. He remembers her telling him later on that she told him this night. Now, how to get himself out of the situation he's in, so that they can move on, together.

He knows that if he wants the truth, he's going to have to tell her that he remembers what she said. He recalls her hesitancy from the first time they had the conversation after he woke up. Thinking back on it, he can see her trying to figure out if he remembers her telling him that the baby was theirs, not Lucky's. He recalls the brief battle in her eyes on whether or not to confess what she said, and the split second decision to keep quiet.

Realizing that he is waking up, it's time to decide how to handle things. There was no sense is beating around the bush, when she asks, he's going to tell her that he remembers what she said. Opening his eyes, he still feels disoriented from the fever and blood loss. Looking around, he's glad that she was able to take him to her old studio. There were so many good memories here.

"Hey."

"I really thought I was dreaming." 'I thought I was crazy,' he left unspoken.

"Yeah, so did I. I couldn't believe you were alive in that chapel." She's so unsure, does he remember, she can't tell. Does she risk asking him out right? "Do you remember what happened?"

"You were talking to me. You sounded so scared. I'm sorry that I scared you. It's still a little fuzzy, but you said something about the baby. What did you say to me?"

Her head snapped up so fast, he thought she might get whiplash. She looked slightly panicked, then as quickly as the panic set in, there seemed to be a calmness that settled over her. He might not completely remember now, but he probably would later. She didn't want to lie to him, even though she already has been for weeks now. All of the fear from the past few hours spilled over and the tears began to fall. Jason grabbed her hand before she could jump up and run away from him. "Elizabeth, tell me what's wrong?"

"I was so scared that you weren't going to make it. I didn't want you to die. I don't think I could have handled it if something would have happened to you and you weren't here anymore. You didn't know, you don't know, and I couldn't take you dying and not telling you what I should have told you weeks ago. So, I told you, hoping that it would make you hang on, hoping that it would make you want to fight to live. I told you what I've been struggling to tell you since I found out," she knew she was babbling. And she knew she was babbling because she was stalling. She still wasn't sure that she wanted to tell him, she did and she didn't.

"Just breathe…what have you been trying to tell me, Elizabeth?" he was rubbing the back of her hand soothingly.

Sucking in a calming breath, preparing for his anger, she closed her eyes so she wouldn't be able to see his anger when she finally said it, "Lucky's not the father of this baby Jason, you are." She tried to get up and walk away, but he was still holding onto her hand.

Releasing the breath he didn't know he was holding, he kept hold of her hand. He was in no condition to chase her down if she tried to run away from him, not that he would let a bullet wound keep him from trying, but he would have a lot more trouble this time than in the last lifetime when they were trapped in an elevator. Then, there was nowhere for her to run, now, she could run out of the door and he'd be hard pressed to catch up with her if she ran. "This baby is ours, that's what you said to me, isn't it?"

Too upset to speak, she nodded mutely. She still couldn't look at him. She knew him, knew he hated liars, knew he hated when people tried to decide what was best for him. She did that, she decided that it would be better for him if he never knew, never had to make the choice between Sam and her and the baby.

Even though he remembered her reasons from before, he still asked, "Why? Why didn't you tell me?"

"You weren't here. When I was finally able to look at the results, Sonny was right there, he asked me who the father was. I told him it was who I expected. Even though I meant you, he jumped to the wrong conclusion. I didn't realize at first that he thought I meant Lucky, but then he started saying that it was a good thing that Lucky was the father. He told me you weren't ready for a child, and now you wouldn't have to worry about the choices in your life harming this baby. I wouldn't have to worry about the dangers in your life affecting this baby. And you wouldn't be torn in two trying to decide how to handle Sam and me and the baby."

"So you just let Sonny and everyone else believe a lie?" he asked, getting angry all over again. It still hurt, even after all this time. He knows that she wasn't trying to hurt him, he knows that she was just scared, and he was all too aware of the things that he had done over the years, before and after this moment in the last lifetime, that made her believe that he would never put her or their son first.

"I didn't have a plan Jason. I just found out I was carrying your child, a child that neither one of us had planned on having. The night I found out, I was going to call you and tell you, but then I realized that it was something that I needed to tell you in person."

"Carly got to me first."

"And she jumped to the same conclusion as Sonny."

"When you came to see me, were you going to tell me that I was the father?"

"I really wanted to, but you already thought that the baby was Lucky's. You told me it was for the best."

"I thought that's what you wanted, for Lucky to be the father."

"I didn't know what I wanted. My husband was on drugs, he cheated on me, I never thought he would do that. You and me, we came together because we were comforting each other, over our mutual grief, we didn't plan on me getting pregnant. Lucky went into rehab, you got back together with Sam. Lucky doesn't even know that we slept together, and I know that I should have told him, that I have to tell him the truth. But, I'm afraid, Jason. I'm afraid that when I tell him, he's going to lose it and go back to pills. I've spent so long protecting Lucky, I don't know how to stop."

And that, in a nutshell, was why he never put himself out there. But, if things were going to change, if he was going to get the life that he so desperately wanted, they were going to have to do things differently; he was going to have to do things differently. Already things were changing, nothing so dramatic yet, but he knew they could have the life that they wanted, even if she didn't fully know it yet. "Elizabeth, you can't control how Lucky chooses to deal with this. It will be his choice to remain clean, or not."

"I've lived so long with always doing what I think is best for Lucky, with everyone telling me that I have to be the one to keep Lucky together. Everyone thinks that what I do or what I say, will keep Lucky from spiraling out of control. His family, his friends, his co-workers, Grams, everyone; except you. That's why I came to you the night of the blackout. I knew you were the only person who wouldn't tell me that it was about Lucky."

"Are you…..are you planning on telling him?" not really sure that he actually wants the answer.

Surprised, well not really given her history, she quietly regards Jason before speaking. "I know that I asked you to not say anything about our night together, but I can't keep this from him. I'm just really afraid of what his reaction is going to be. I don't want to lie anymore."

In typical Jason fashion, he rubs her hand to comfort her. "Lucky is in charge of Lucky's behavior. You can't keep him sober. You can't make him _want_ to get clean, or stay clean. That's all on him."

Looking down at their intertwined fingers, she releases the breath she didn't realize she's been holding. Tears pooling in her eyes, she glances back up at Jason, who quickly puts an arm around her shoulder. Jason wraps both arms around the woman he's carried feelings for since the winter he was shot by Sorel. He can't stand to see her hurting and crying.

Whispering soothing words in her ear, the normally stoic man tries to calm Elizabeth's tears and soothe her fears. "It's gonna be okay. I promise you that."

Taking a deep breath, the pregnant mom is finally able to stop crying. She nods her head on his shoulder to let him know that she is alright. "Thank you."

"I didn't do anything."

"You always say that, and it's never true. You are always here for me. You listen to me. You let me be me."

"I just want you to be happy."

Closing her eyes, she really hates what she is about to say to the father of her baby, the love of her life. But she knows, without a doubt, that this man, the one she loves with her entire being, loves another woman.

Feeling the tension building up in the mother of his unborn child, Jason tightens his arms around her, wondering what she was getting worked up over.

"I want the same for you. And I know that means that you are working things out with her."

Rubbing his hands down Elizabeth's back, "I haven't really been able to forgive Sam for sleeping with Ric. I don't know how she's going to take it that we're having this baby together. She's so angry that you are pregnant and that I've refused to even discuss having a baby with her."

Leaning back a little, she cups Jason's cheek with her hand, noticing that he leaned into her hand, ever so slightly. "Maybe we should just decide what we're going to do and what's best for this baby."


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter Eight**

"What do you want to do?"

"Now is not the time to be showing off your answer-avoiding skills." Smiling, she asks him, "What do you want, what do you really want out of this situation? Do you want to be involved? Do you want to ignore it and hide it? If you want to be a part of this baby's life, I can't be the one to make all of the decisions. You have to tell me what you want, so I don't assume that I know, and then it turns out that I'm wrong."

Sitting back slightly, he smirks a bit at her sarcasm. 'What do I want? Do I want this baby? YES!' "I want to be a part of everything. I do not want to ignore or deny the fact that I'm going to be a father."

"OK. Good, I'm glad for that. Look, I know you need some time to think about everything. I know there's a lot going on in your life. All the drama between you and me, you and her, and I'm sure that things are always going on in the business that need your attention. Why don't you take a few days to really sort through everything? It's not like you can really go far. See how you feel then, and figure out what you really want. I'm not going anywhere, and this baby's got quite a while before he becomes a day-to-day reality."

"Wait, it's a boy, did you find that out already?" he asks.

"No, no, I'm not sure, and we can't find out the sex for another few months. I just can't call the baby an 'it', and honestly, I feel silly sometimes just constantly saying 'the baby'. I have this really strong feeling that 'it' is a boy."

"Oh, okay. Tell me something, have you given any thought about my life, and what that's going to mean for you and our, I mean, your children."

"Jason, I know that you will do everything in your power to keep me and the children as safe as possible. Life isn't safe, you know that I know that. I trust you. I trust you to protect us, to not let us go unprotected. Just know that I trust in you, completely."

Nodding, Jason hugs Elizabeth to him. "Okay, thank you. Thank you for trusting me. And I will, I will do everything I can to keep you safe from my life. I've never wanted that side of my life to touch you, or Cam, and now this baby."

Looking up at Jason with complete love and trust in her eyes, Elizabeth smiles at the father of her unborn child. Startled by the naked emotion that he can see shining in her eyes, Jason leans up, without thinking, and brushes his lips against hers. She lets out a little gasp before returning the gesture. Glancing back up to her eyes, he sees no hesitation or indication that kissing her was a bad idea. Tightening his arm around her once again, he slides his other hand up to cup the back of her head. Giving her plenty of time to back away, he slowly moves in again, claiming her lips in a searing kiss, holding none of his feelings for her back. Tongues dueling for dominance, he guides her head to a better angle so that he can fully ravish her mouth. Sliding his lips along her jaw, to her ear, then down to that sweet spot on her neck….the one he found a couple of months ago,….

_A/N: A. yes I realize this is a really short chapter. B. yes I realize that it just stopped when it was getting juicy. C. yes I know what I am doing (okay, well, I like to think I know!). I promise, there is a method to my madness._


	9. Chapter 9

_**A/N: Yes, absolutely, I know….. I am mean and evil to leave all of you hanging there….. and I'm not going to fix it here, either! I'm obviously not sticking completely to the original storyline (let's face it – it sucked!), but I am thinking about keeping several of the major elements in. Since I was just gearing up, I was sticking fairly close to the original, but it will be veering off very soon. I hope you all will still continue to read, even if I didn't finish the Liason lovin' from the last chapter. **_

**Chapter Nine**

The knock at the studio door put a stop to all forward movement. Dropping his head into the crook of her neck for the briefest of moments, Elizabeth felt the growl in his chest before he grabbed his gun from the floor.

"Elizabeth, open the door," came Carly's muffled voice from the other side of the thick door.

Letting go of Elizabeth and allowing her to rise from the couch, Jason tells her, "I am not sorry for kissing you, but I shouldn't have done that to you when things are so unresolved between me and Sam."

Relieved that he wasn't sorry for kissing her, she knew that she shouldn't have encouraged it. "Jason, it's fine." Opening the door, Carly heads straight for Jason, "Oh, thank God you're alright. I came as soon as I heard."

"We're trying to keep the fact that Jason's here a secret."

"That's why I said your name and not his."

"Carly, you shouldn't even be here."

"Don't tell me I shouldn't be here. You scared the hell out of me."

"I'm okay, thanks to Elizabeth."

Looking at the woman she has hated for years, it killed her to have to say any nice words to her, "Thank you, but I can take it from here."

"Jason needs medical attention."

"Yeah, and so do you. You took a nasty fall earlier at the Quartermaine's."

Confused, Jason looked between the two women, he had forgotten that she had passed out during Ric's little impromptu entrance during Luke and Laura's wedding reception, "What do you mean? You…did you fall?"

Struggling to cover for her over-emotional state when Ric had announced that he was arresting Jason, "Uh, well, yeah, I got light-headed, but it was no big deal."

A perfect excuse to get her away from Jason, Carly jumped on that statement, "It is a big deal, you should get that checked out. You can't be too careful."

"You know, Carly is right. You should take care of yourself, Elizabeth, and ou…your baby. I will be fine right now." 'Whew, he almost blew that one', Jason thought, hoping that Carly didn't hear his near slip up.

Realizing that she wasn't going to win, and not being able to argue with him because they weren't alone anymore, she decides to let Carly have some time with Jason, "His bandage needs to be changed every couple of hours. If he starts to get a fever, or the wound re-opens, you're gonna need to take him to the emergency room…."

"He's in good hands with me. Thank you," Carly said, dismissing Elizabeth from the room, like she wished she could dismiss her from Jason's life.

Turning to Jason, "I'm really glad you're alright."

"Thanks again, for everything. We'll talk later, okay?"

"Sure."

Carly wasn't sure what to make of what he said, but she really didn't like his tone. Damn it, if he's with Sam, she doesn't have to worry about things like this. When he's "with" Elizabeth, he does things and acts completely different. Oh, no, she's not having that. As much as she hates Sam, she would rather Jason be with Sam that with Elizabeth. "What the hell was that?"

Playing it off, "She saved…she saved my life. I'm very grateful." He's just not going to tell Carly how much she saved his life….or how.

Carly had a feeling that Jason was hiding something from her; she just couldn't put her finger on what it was. "Well, I don't want to see you get pulled into something that can't work Jason. Besides, Sam is a wreck after seeing you fall off a building. Have you even thought about her and how she's doing?"

"Of course I have. Sonny told me that she was arrested for shooting Diego Alcazar," he said.

"Look, you were shot. Elizabeth saved your life and it would be easy for you to mistake that for something that it's not. Don't get caught up in old feelings and forget that the person you are with is better for you."

"Carly, you know I love you, but you need to stay out of this. Whatever happens in my personal life is just that, personal."

"You've just got to be more careful. I don't think you know how much I need you in my life. You are not just my friend, you're my everything. You know how you, me and Sonny, we need each other, we care about each other. I just need you to think about us before you do anything stupid, okay?"

Shaking his head, he didn't want to discuss what he was going to do with Carly. He still needed to think about what Elizabeth had admitted to him and figure out how to get where he wanted them to be. "Carly, I'm fine. I just need to rest. Why don't you go home and be with your boys? I'm just gonna sleep for a while. Besides, I'm sure Sonny will be back soon."

Carly did not want to run into Sonny, especially not after kissing him earlier. "Okay, I'm going. Please, please, please take care of yourself. And think about what I said." Jumping up, she hugged and kissed him before running out of the door.


	10. Chapter 10

_**A/N: My humblest of apologies, I meant to add this chapter separately. It helps me keep up with the chapters I've written and added... So I've added chapter Ten by itself!**_

**Chapter Ten**

After Sonny left, Jason called Elizabeth to check on her. "Elizabeth, it's me."

"Hey, how are you feeling? Do you need something? Can I bring you anything?"

"I'm okay. I wanted to check on you and the baby. Did you go and get checked out? Is everything alright?"

"Yes. I went to see Kelly and she gave us a clean bill of health, I told you it was nothing to worry about."

"Good, that's really good. Do you have time to come back so we can talk?"

"Uh, yeah, sure. Oh, and I can bring you the medications that I got for you, too. I just need to run by and check on Cam, and change clothes. Give me about an hour or so?"

"Sure. I'll just rest until you get here."

"You need to sleep, Jason, if you're gonna heal. So sleep!"

"When did you get so bossy?"

"I've been this way for a long time, remember?" she asked, enjoying their easy banter. She knew this conversation was going to be deep and difficult, so she was glad that he was making an effort to joke with her now. "I'll see you soon, okay?"

"Okay."

Twenty minutes later, Jason wakes from his light sleep, hearing a key in the door, he puts his gun under the blanket. The door opens and he is completely overwhelmed by the sight of his sister coming into the studio. It had never occurred to him just how impacted he would be with Emily still being alive in this timeline. He couldn't even speak, he was so choked up.

"Jase, oh my, I'm so glad to see you! How are you feeling?" his sister asks.

"I'm…..I'm okay. Eliz…Elizabeth found me, brought me here and got the bullet out. She….she saved my life," he choked out. "I…..oh, Em, I'm so glad to see you!"

Emily ran over to her big brother and hugged him fiercely. He didn't know yet that she, too, remembered the other timeline. She was going to break that news to him, in a minute. "So Elizabeth, she saved your life again," she stated.

He couldn't help the tears shining in his eyes, "Yeah, that she did."

"And have you gotten her to tell you that you're the father of Jake, yet?" she dropped her bombshell.

Jason could only stare at her for several minutes, not blinking.

"Did I break you, big brother?" Emily teased.

"How…," he couldn't even finish, he was so astonished.

"Jase, I remember the old timeline, and I remember vividly my untimely demise," she stated dryly.

"Wow," he replied, "it never dawned on me that you would know about that. I thought I was going to be the only one."

"Nope, are you kidding? There's a lot of things we have to do to make sure that you and Elizabeth get to have your happy life together, so Dad and Grandmother decided that instead of Elizabeth remembering, I would," she responded. "They thought it probably wouldn't work if you both remembered everything that happened. No matter how strong Elizabeth is, they worried that she would still be too cautious about getting together with you, with the memories of the things that happened to Jake so fresh. You and I are the only ones that actually remember what happened. Grandmother did promise that Elizabeth would know what's right in her heart, and if she just followed those feelings, everything would work out the way it was supposed to. That's what she will remember, but not consciously."

"Yeah, this time I heard her tell me about Jake, well, the baby, in the chapel. I asked her about it without asking and she told me everything. We started talking about things, then Carly showed up, and Elizabeth left to get a quick check-up with Kelly Lee."

Rolling her eyes, "Ugh, Carly, I'm gonna have to do something about that nosey busybody. You do realize Jase that you are going to have to stand up to her and tell her how it's going to be, if you ever want peace with Elizabeth. You're going to have to give her boundaries, and I know that she's not going to like it."

"You think?" he asked. "Yeah, I know. There's a lot to think about and consider. A lot needs to be done differently. I think we've started on the right path, I already know about the baby…..my Jake."

"You deserve to have them in your life, you know that, right?" she asked gently. Looking into her brother's eyes, "You know that what you and Elizabeth have is special. After all that you guys have been through, you two deserve to be happy, and that means you deserve to be together, as a family."

Smiling at his baby sister, he tells her, "Lizabeth and I are connected, in ways I never thought possible. I know that we can make this work, I just have to convince her to let me be Jake's father."

"I'm going to help you," Emily tells him. "Lucky and Elizabeth's relationship has been toxic since he was rescued from Helena and Faison. Part of my job is to make both of them see that."

"I know I didn't say this often enough before, but I love you, Em," Jason told her, getting choked up again.

"I love you, too," she replied. "Now is Elizabeth coming back tonight?"

"Yeah, she was going to spend some time with Cam, change clothes and then come back, so we could talk."

"Good. Don't screw this up," she tells him. "As scary as it is, you need to put yourself out there with Elizabeth. She needs to know just how much you love her and that you would do anything for her, except give up your baby. Tell her what you _know_ she needs to hear from you."

Chuckling slightly, "You're telling me, the guy that has a hard time communicating, not to say something stupid – great – I hope I can accomplish that."

"Look, I'm gonna run, I don't want to be here when Elizabeth gets back."

"Okay, I'll call you when this is over and we'll talk some more."

"We have a lot of things to cover, the list in my head is so long already, but I'm ready to change both of our lives. We'll talk about it later. I'm going to go see Nicholas. I love you. I'm so glad to be back! I missed everybody, so much."

"Love you, too. See ya soon."

Jason watched his baby sister leave and lock the studio. Settling back on the couch, he couldn't believe that Emily was alive. Not only was she alive, but she remembered everything, too. Now, he just had to not screw things up when Elizabeth got back.


	11. Chapter 11

_**A/N: Again, my apologies for the screw up in posting 2 chapters in one…. So for that, you all get an extra chapter today! **_

_**Thank you all, so very much, for all of your encouragement and your wonderful reviews. I truly hope that you continue to enjoy reading this story, as much as I am enjoying writing it and sharing it with you. So, without further ado…..**_

**Chapter Eleven**

Elizabeth was so relieved that she had finally opened up and told Jason the truth about the baby. She felt that the heavy weight had been lifted off of her shoulders. But, she's also scared, too. Even though Jason had kissed her, quite thoroughly, with no sign of stopping until Carly interrupted, she's not sure what that means for them. He's still with Sam, he broke the law and is a fugitive for _her_. God, she hated that woman. More so now than she did even a few days ago, and she's not really sure why. She's heading back to her studio, so that she and Jason can talk about things, where they go from here…and how they are going to go. She's so nervous when she arrives that she just stands outside the door for several moments to calm her racing heart. Taking several deep breaths, she finally puts her key into the door and goes in.

Jason is lying on the couch asleep, but stirs when he hears the door open. Opening his eyes, he stares at her in wonder, "Hi, you made it back."

"Sorry, it took me a little longer to get Cam to sleep than I thought it would. Then, I lay down to rest for a few minutes. I really hate 'morning sickness' that doesn't necessarily come just in the morning," she babbles.

"If you weren't feeling well, you could have told me. You should have called me and told me, I would have understood."

"No, Jason, I'm fine. The nausea always passes pretty quickly, so I'm okay. I promise you that I won't push myself beyond my limits and I _will_ listen to my body and rest when I need to, okay?"

Nodding his head, he invites her to sit down, "Come on, sit. Get off your feet, though."

Sitting at the far end of the ragged couch, she looks at him, "So I guess it's time that we really talk, huh?"

"I think we should."

"Are you sure you don't want to wait a few days, until it's really sunk in? I'm really okay with that, I told you earlier that I know you have a lot on your plate right now."

"No, I don't want to wait. Honestly, I've been thinking about this for a long time, even after I thought the baby was Lucky's."

"Really?" she asked, surprised.

"Yes, really," Jason responded dryly.

"Sorry, I guess I just wasn't expecting you to have kept thinking about it, that's all."

"I actually never stopped thinking about it, and I couldn't help wanting the baby to be mine. I didn't realize how much I wanted it until I thought I wasn't the baby's father."

Dropping her head in shame, tears glistening in her eyes, "Oh, Jason, I'm so sorry. I never meant to hurt you like that." Looking back up at him, "I should have told you the truth from the beginning."

Taking a page from her book, "well, now is when it matters."

Smiling slightly, she takes a deep breath preparing for their conversation.

"I've been doing a lot of thinking. About everything….our baby, you, me, my relationship with Sam, even some of my so-called friends."

Arching her eyebrow, while she didn't really want to her about his relationship with _her_, she was puzzled by his last statement. "Okay, meaning what, Jason?"

Hunching his shoulders, he ran his hand down his face, trying to alleviate the last of the tension he felt in his body. He hated not being good with words. Ever since his accident, he's had a difficult time really expressing what is in his head. Most of the time, he feels like it comes out as jumbled garbage, which is why he doesn't usually say much. Now, now, he needs to be able to get those words out to Elizabeth without saying the wrong thing. He's not entirely sure that he can do it. Looking up at her, he sees that she's just waiting, waiting for him to talk, or waiting for him to blow it off.

Scanning through his jumbled thoughts, he lets out a quick breath, "Meaning, I've made some decisions about where to go from here. Bear with me, okay; you know I don't always express myself well." Looking back up at her, he sees her shake her head, "I already told you, I want to be involved, right? And I do. I want to go to the appointments, and do all of that father-to-be stuff with you."

"Okay, I'm good with that."

"I realized that I'm not…not in love with Sam. I think if I was, then we wouldn't be here right now. I don't think that someone in love wants to be with anyone other than the one they are in love with. Does that make sense?"

"Yes, I feel the same way about Lucky. I realized that I'm not in love with Lucky, either."

"I'm going to have to tell Sam. I think I owe it to her to tell her that she and I are done, and I'm going to tell her that this," glancing at Liz's belly, "is my baby."

"Jason, are you sure? I mean, that it's not just the shock of finding out."

"No, I questioned that, too. Like I said earlier today, I still cannot get over the fact that she slept with Ric. I know she was hurt and angry, with me for breaking it off with her, with Alexis for encouraging me to stay away from her. But, for all the hurt and anger, what she did, didn't hurt just me, it hurt her mother and her sisters. I just can't forgive the fact that she did it to purposefully hurt other people. Maybe if it was just to hurt herself, but it wasn't."

"Wow, you've really been thinking about this, haven't you?"

"Yeah, since both Sonny and Carly have been talking my ear off about forgiving her and giving her another chance."

"I know how that goes." Elizabeth is doing her level best to stay quiet; she wants him to say what he needs to say, without her getting all her drama involved.

"Sam wants me, so badly, to regret what happened between us, but I can't do it. It's not how I feel, even before we knew you were pregnant. I was never sorry about what we shared that night, it was too special to me to _ever_ regret it. And now, even though I know it's gonna be hard for Sam to hear that you're, that you're having my child, I can't do anything to change it."

Looking up, rather sadly, Elizabeth asks the same question she didn't remember asking in the elevator during the last timeline, "Would you want to?"

"I know all the reasons that this is complicated and I'm sorry for anybody that's gonna be hurt. But, you and I made this baby together and I can't regret that miracle. I want our child. I want it more than anything."

Letting out the breath she had been holding, she looks at Jason with tears in her eyes, "So, what do we do now?"

Knowing this could be the end of everything he ever wanted, he takes a deep breath and prepares to lay his heart on the line, "The night that we made love, I told you that I appreciated you in my life. The one thing that I didn't say to you, and probably should have, is that I," he paused, not believing that he was really going to do this. "I love you, Elizabeth. I have for a long time, and every time we weren't together, I just…I just buried it, so I wouldn't have to hurt when you went back to Lucky, or I pushed you away because I thought it was too dangerous for me to be around you."

Tears streaming down her face, she sat there, stunned. She couldn't believe it, he had told her, after all this time that he loves her. Finally, deciding if he could do it then so could she, she mustered up her courage and uttered, "Jason….I love you, too."


	12. Chapter 12

_**Disclaimer: I still own nothing. The characters belong to GH and ABC. I borrowed some of the dialogue and some of the original storyline, but the rest is mine! Please don't sue…..I have nothing, so it would be a waste of time. I promise to put them back when I'm done playing with them! **_

**Chapter Twelve**

Elizabeth was dreading the conversation she was going to have to have with her Grams. She knew exactly how Audrey Hardy was going to react, not only to the news that she slept with Jason while still married to Lucky, but that now the child she is carrying is Jason's. She's never understood her Grams utter contempt for Jason, who has never been anything but good to her. While they may have had their ups and downs, and those downs got really bad – on both sides, she knew when push came to shove that Jason would always back her. Hell, he even made a deal with Ric, the man he hated most in this world, just to save her from going to prison. And for a man that didn't like to lie, what he did for her was huge.

Pulling into the driveway at her Grams house, she turned off the car and just sat for a few minutes, trying to control her raging emotions. Steeling herself for the fight she is about to have, she stiffens her spine and gets out of the car. She didn't tell Jason that she was going to tell her Grams the truth about their baby. She knew he would have wanted to come to support her. But, she didn't want to subject Jason to her Grams' disdain. She also couldn't risk Jason being seen right now. She hopes that she can get her to come to terms with everything that is going on and keep her from coming down on him.

Walking up to the front door, she walks in, "Grams?"

Coming out of the kitchen, Audrey smiles at her beautiful granddaughter, "Hello darling. How was your day?"

"Long, interesting, and draining. Where's Cam?"

"He's upstairs, taking a nap. He played so hard today; he didn't even fight me when it was time for him to lie down."

"That's good. I'm glad he was good for you today. Um, listen Grams; we need to talk about a few things. There's something I need to tell you."

Immediately concerned by her granddaughter's comment and mood, "What is it darling? Is everything alright with Lucky? He's trying so hard to stay clean for this baby. Whatever it is, you can tell me."

"Grams, Lucky is part of it. And, no, I don't think that he's using again. I saw him earlier today with Maxie Jones. They were talking about their baby. That's just it, though; he used _this_ baby as a reason to get clean. He needs to do this for himself if he wants to stay clean. I'm still very angry that he wouldn't go for me, or for Cam, or even for Maxie's baby."

"All that matters, darling, is that he _is_ clean. He so wants to be a family again with you, Cam and his new baby."

"That's not going to happen, Grams. I'm not in love with Lucky, and I haven't been truly in love with him for a very long time. We've tried and tried, but we are two different people now, and we grew apart."

"I know you, Elizabeth. You _do_ still love Lucky. You can make this work with him, if only you would just open your heart and forgive him."

"Look Grams, yes, I do love Lucky. But I'm not _in_ love with Lucky. There is no making our marriage work. He got addicted to pain killers. He left those same drugs lying around our house where _my_ son could have found them and taken them. I would never have been able to forgive him, or myself, if something would have happened to Cam because of those damn drugs. He cheated on me, I don't even know how many times, with a barely legal adult that he got pregnant, just so he could get those drugs. Because of those drugs, I have taken two hard falls while I'm pregnant, and he shot a loaded gun in my house! I know that he's sorry about all of that now, but I can't trust him. I don't know that I ever would be able to trust him again. You and he, and everyone else for that matter, need to face it, our marriage is over. I am getting a divorce."

"Oh, Elizabeth, don't you think you are being too hard on him?"

"Please do not start singing the praises of St. Lucky to me, Grams. I know that I am not blameless in the failure of my marriage. I have done things, too. Lucky is not in love with the person I am now. He is still in love with that scared little raped girl that he pulled from the bushes who couldn't sleep alone in her own bedroom. He still wants me to be that same 'totally dependent on him' girl that I was back then. I got over it and I've moved on. I'm not that scared little girl anymore."

"Of course Lucky loves you for who you are now. You are a brave, strong-willed, independent woman. I know he sees that and loves you even more for it."

"No, Grams, he doesn't. You know what, it doesn't matter anyways. Things are changing in my life, and _that_ is what I want to talk to you about, not Lucky. Can we just sit down so I can tell you what I need to tell you?"

With Elizabeth sitting on the couch, Audrey chooses to sit in the wingback chair, for some reason she knows that she is not going to like whatever it is her granddaughter is going to say to her. Crossing her legs, she lays her arms across her lap and looks expectantly at Elizabeth. "Okay, so what is it that you have to tell me?" she asks wearily.

Taking a deep breath, Elizabeth steels herself to finally make her confession, "On the night of the blackout in August, I found Lucky having sex in our bed with Maxie." Holding up her hand to stop any comments from her grandmother, "Needless to say, I was extremely upset. I didn't know where to go. I couldn't come here and listen to you telling me again and again to forgive and forget, to give Lucky another chance. I wandered around, not going anywhere in particular. I ended up on a friend's doorstep. We talked and realized that we had both seen loved ones in the exact same position. We spoke for a long time about what was going on, about the past, everything. We were just being there for each other as friends. Without going into details, one thing led to another and we….we were intimate that night. What I need to tell you is _that_ man is the father of my baby, not Lucky." She lets out the breath she was holding in, waiting for her grandmother's reaction.

Stunned and confused, Audrey remains silent for many minutes, coming to terms with what her granddaughter has just told her. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, she spoke, "If Lucky is not your baby's father, then who is?"

"Jason. Jason Morgan is this baby's father."


	13. Chapter 13

_**A/N: I know this is another short chapter, but I wanted to finish off Audrey's reaction to Elizabeth's news. So, what do you think?**_

**Chapter Thirteen**

"Oh, Elizabeth," the words, dripping with disappointment, fell from Audrey's mouth. "How _could_ you? How could you sleep with _that_ man? Why would you destroy your marriage for the likes of him?" she cried.

Indignantly, Elizabeth let her anger lash out, "How could _I_ destroy my marriage? Apparently you didn't listen to anything I said about what _Lucky_ did to destroy our marriage! When I went to Jason, I went to the one person in this town who wouldn't try to force their opinion about getting back together with _Lucky_! I didn't _intend_ on sleeping with Jason, it just happened!"

"I thought you had gotten that man out of your system years ago. I thought that phase was over. I don't understand why you continue to hang out with that criminal, Elizabeth!"

"A phase? You thought my friendship with Jason was a phase? He has been, and always will be, my friend, first and foremost. Anything else we are to each other, well, that remains to be seen. Anyways, he's never even been convicted of _anything_, Gram! Not even so much as a parking ticket!"

"I cannot believe you are defending that criminal, convicted or not, to me! That man is a fugitive, wanted by the law. _If_ this is his baby, I will not have him hanging around this house. I will not entertain the thought of that…that…that cold-blooded, mob hit-man, killer in my home. Do you understand me, young lady? I forbid it. You are not to have anything, and I mean _anything_, more to do with that man while you are living under this roof!"

"If? _If_? This baby _is_ Jason's! And, oh, I certainly do understand you. I am NOT a teenager, Grams. I am a grown-ass woman! You don't own me, and you certainly do not control me. Don't worry, I'll be out of your hair soon enough. In fact, I'll start packing now," she states as she runs upstairs to the room she's used ever since she came to Port Charles at the age of 14.

Picking up her phone, she sees that she missed a call from Jason. Listening to his voice mail, she calls him and leaves her own message. She tells him to take his time and do whatever he needed to do. She told him she would call him back and let him know where she would be.


	14. Chapter 14

_**A/N: Since the last chapter was so short, I thought I would go ahead and share the next one with you. Thank you again for all of your encouragement and support – it is very much appreciated! **_

**Chapter Fourteen**

Deciding she wanted to get away from her Grams as quickly as possible, she packs as much as she can into her car before waking her sleeping son.

"Cam," she whispers in his ear. "Time to wake up, baby. We're going on an adventure. What do you think? Can you be a big boy and help mommy on this adventure?"

Sleepily Cam grins at his mommy, "Otay mommy, I's hep you on yous aventer."

"That's mommy's big boy. Let's get you dressed for our ad-ven-ture."

Changing Cam into some different clothes, she gathers the last few things from his room that he would want in the new place, wherever that was going to be. Carrying him and the last bag down the stairs, she stops and looks at her grandmother. "Grams, I love you, but it's not your place to try to run my life. You can love me and you can worry about me, or you can choose to be disappointed in me because I'm not living the life that _you_ think I should. But, it _is_ my life, and I will live it – my way."

"Say goodbye to Grams, Cameron."

"Bye Gwams, I's wuv oo."

"Goodbye, my darling. You be good for your mommy."

"I's will."

Settling his head in the crook of his mommy's neck, Elizabeth carried him out to her car and placed him in his car seat. She decided to go to her studio, at least for the next few days, until she could figure out where to move permanently. It would also make taking care of Jason that much easier, if he had decided to stay, and he hadn't already left. She could never be sure what he would do, especially when he thought it was the right thing to do. With that in mind, she decided that she was going to have to get Cameron's crib from her old apartment, since she was not going back to her grandmother's for the twin bed he'd been sleeping on. She couldn't afford to buy him another bed right now. She needed to find someone to watch Cam for her while she went and got his crib. She also knew it was going to be a little bit crowded there if Jason still staying to recover from his gunshot wound. Honestly, she hoped he hadn't left yet, but wouldn't be surprised to find that he'd gone already.

She thought about calling Emily. Dismissing that idea for the night, maybe she'd just let Cam sleep on a palette on the floor, she did pack his sleeping bag. She doesn't want to face Nicholas right now, so Emily, and going to Wyndamere are out. She'll think about that tomorrow.

Parking at the docks by the studio, Elizabeth carries her sleeping son into the building. Getting to the door, she smiles at all of the memories this one little studio could invoke in her. So many happy times here, with Jason. Losing energy fast because of her pregnancy, she opens the door and pulls up short with a gasp.

"Ja….Jason, what are you doing? I thought I told you to sleep, you need sleep to heal?" she asks breathlessly from the excess weight of Cam on her chest, as she sees him trying to get up from the couch. Jason wants to take Cam from her and lay him down on the far end of the couch. "Thank you, but I've got him. I sometimes forget how heavy he's getting now that he's growing up. I still see him as my little baby….. But you didn't answer my question. Jason, what's going on?"

Smirking slightly at her rambling, "Elizabeth….breathe."

"Sorry."

"S'ok. I was just trying to build some of my strength back up."

"Oh, no you don't. Don't you remember anything from the last time you were shot?" she asked him incredulously. "You will heal much faster if you _don't_ push yourself."

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry," he tells her, not really very sorry, but knowing that he's a horribly impatient patient. "What's wrong? Why did you bring Cam here, I thought he was staying with your Grams tonight?"

"Well, he was. Until I broke the cardinal rule: don't do anything to disappoint my Grams. Make sure that I live my life how _she_ thinks I should, not how _I_ want to. No, I told her about the baby and she basically forced me out."

"She kicked you out because I'm the father of your baby?"

"No, but she told me in no uncertain terms that I was to have nothing to do with you while I continued to live under her roof. So, I packed up our shit and got the hell out. And now, here I am. I thought this place would work for us until I found something a little more permanent."

"I'm sorry about your grandmother. I never thought she would do something that drastic. Look, you stay here, I'll call Sonny and have him move me to one of the safe houses or something."

"No Jason, it's okay. I mean it will be a little crowded with the three of us here, but this way I can take care of both you and my son."

"I'm okay with it, as long as you're comfortable, that it is," he quickly amended.

"I wouldn't have suggested it, if I didn't mind," she says. "Maybe, when you're ready, we can talk about things, too."

"Why don't we get you two settled? Do you bring anything with you?"

"Um, yeah, actually, I was gonna wait until Cam woke up to go get it, since I didn't want to leave him alone in here."

"Give me your keys and I'll call and have one of the guards bring it in." He holds out his hand, patiently waiting for her keys. She finally hands them over. Calling the guard staying across the hall, he asks Francis to unload Elizabeth's car for her. Chuckling to himself, he watches as Francis brings the stuff from the car up in two trips.

Bringing the last load in, he tells Francis to set everything down in the far corner, as much out of the way as possible. Handing her back her keys, Francis tells Elizabeth, "Okay, that's it. I'll just head out now. Call if you guys need anything. I'm close by."

"Thank you for helping, Francis. I really appreciate it."

"No problem, Miss Webber."

"It's Elizabeth. I thought we got that part straight years ago," she laughs at him.

"Good night, Jason. Good night…Elizabeth," the guard says, then hurries out of the door before Jason can call him on it.


	15. Chapter 15

_**A/N: OK, so this is a longer chapter. Hope you like where I'm going with this! Let me know. Oh, and I checked, still don't own it! LOL!**_

**Chapter Fifteen**

"Did you mean it when you said that you love me?"

"Yes, I do love you Jason," she responded quietly.

"I've been thinking about what that would mean, for you, for me, for us."

"And were you able to come up with anything?"

"You know, after my accident, my doctors said I would never feel emotions again, but they were wrong. I think what's always scared me is that I feel them too much with you. When I shut myself off after losing Michael, I didn't want to feel again, I'd been betrayed so badly. Then, there you were, so proud, so beautiful and in so much pain. We hung out, took those bike rides, you talked and I listened. After I got shot and we stayed here, I was in a different type of pain then. Sonny and Carly both betrayed me, and I was angry again. Being here with you, you helped me heal from that. When I came back, you were with Lucky, but you didn't seem happy. I thought maybe you wanted to be with me, too. Then you chose Lucky. By the time we finally were able to try for us, everything with Sonny's fake death and the business blew up in my face. I should have been honest with you and told you that something was going on, but I was so hesitant to put myself out there, and I lost you anyway. I never thought I deserved you, so I let you go, instead of fighting for you, like I wanted to do. Now, we're back here, together in this place. I'm wondering, is now the time, is now the right time?"

Completely stunned by all that Jason had said, Elizabeth could only look at him with tears streaming down her face. "I've never heard you say so much at one time. I never realized how badly I messed things up for us with my obligations to Lucky."

"We've both hurt each other. I've done some monumentally stupid things, but I don't want to rehash old mistakes, I think that we are already past all of those. You know what my life is like; you know my job is dangerous, have you thought about whether you could share my life with me? Would it scare you too much to try?"

"Jason, I….." she hesitated.

"No, that's….you know what, I shouldn't have said anything," as he started to pull away.

"Wait! I know that what you do isn't safe, but life isn't safe. No one's life is ever perfect, Jason. The best thing we can for our children is just love them. I'm not going to keep this baby from you, that wouldn't be fair to you, or to him. You are one of the best men I know, and he needs to know his father. I know that's going to mean changes for me and the children. Bodyguards, special housing, whatever. And, I know that you still love her, so I don't think us rushing into any kind of committed relationship would be right for you, or for me. If you really want to make a go with her, then I'll support you in that, because it makes you happy. I just want to be clear that I am this child's mother."

"I would never take this child away from you, if that's what you are afraid of."

"My biggest fear is that you will push this child away, because of what you do, that you will be too afraid to claim him. I don't want to go through the pain of seeing you openly around town with everyone else, but ignoring you own child because you think it's too dangerous for him to be a part of your life. I am afraid. I am afraid that the boys and I will never be first in your life. I am afraid that everyone else will always be more important than us. That would be too much to bear."

"Do you really think that I could do that?" he asks, knowing that in the previous timeline he had done just that, because she had asked him to give up his son.

"Well, how many times have you pushed me away, always giving me the 'danger' speech? But then it's never been too dangerous for you to be around Carly and her kids, Courtney, Sam, the list goes on and on."

Looking down at the floor, Jason realizes just how badly his past actions have caused her mistrust in him. "I just want you to be sure that you know what you are getting into, because once everyone knows, you will have a target on your back. You and your kids will be a way to get at me. I….I do love you, Elizabeth, not just because you are carrying my child." Arching a brow, with a smirk on his face, "Ric one time accused me of always being a little bit in love with you, and I can't deny that he was right."

Jerking her head up, she meets his gaze – shocked at his admission, "You are in love with me?"

"Why does that surprise you?"

"I guess because of how easily you were always able to push me away, and then move on with someone else."

"Easy? God, no! It was _never_ easy to walk away, or push you away, from me when I thought it was too dangerous. It was the hardest thing I've ever had to do. But every time I thought about you dying because of my business, that scared me even more. I realize now that we really have done some damage to each other, haven't we?"

"Maybe in some ways, yes. I think we were always too afraid to face what's been between us all these years. Me with my issues over Lucky. With the way that my parents treated me, I've always felt abandoned. I think that I'm always waiting for everyone else to abandon me, too. I mean if my parents can't love me, why would anyone else?"

"I don't know how or why your parents could leave you so easily; I think they are fools for doing it. I hate that they made you feel that way."

"I was hurt when my parents left me, but I was devastated each and every time you did it to me," she whispered.

Wrapping his arms around her, she tucked her head under his chin as he rested his cheek on it, "I'm so sorry I put you through that, Elizabeth. It was never my intention to hurt you; I was always thinking that you'd be better off, happier, safer without me in your life. It would kill me if something happened to you or one of the children because of my business. I don't think I could bear it if you looked at me and I knew you hated me because of something like that happening. As much as it hurt to push you away, I knew it would be better than to ever have you hate me."

"I know," she sighed. "I'm glad we're talking about it now, though. Jason, I know the choice I'm making to be in your life. I know there may be times that things happen that you can't control. I don't think I could ever hate you. Maybe we can stop making those same choices now. I think that we, you and I, were meant to be in each other's lives, even if it's only just as friends."

"More than friends. We've always been more than just friends. I've only ever wanted you to be happy, that's why I never pushed you back then. I thought that if you were happy, then I'd be fine with that, and we could just be what we are to each other. You said I was always the risk that was too big for you to take, do you think, maybe, you'd be willing to take that risk now?"

"What are you saying, Jason? Please, just tell me what it is that you want, I mean what you really want."

"You. I want you, Elizabeth."

Tears falling from her eyes, she looks up at him, "Are you sure? I don't want you to feel obligated because I'm pregnant and I've told you that I love you."

Cupping her face with his hands, he gently wipes the tears from her face, "Yes, I'm sure."

"Okay," she says with a tremulous smile. "Where do we go from here, then?"

Taking a deep breath, Jason looks down at Elizabeth, "I think…well, I think we both need to end our current relationships. I know that you are divorcing Lucky. I still need to get Sam out of this mess that Ric has caused. And I need to tell her face-to-face, that she and I are done."

Pulling back, Elizabeth starts to get up, thinking that now is not a good time to indulge in her feelings for him. "Jason, you've just been shot. You can't be running around town trying to get Sam out of this mess, let Sonny and your men take care of it."

"Come back here. I didn't mean that I was leaving right this second," he smirks, pulling her back into his arms. "Besides, I like it where I am right this second."

Chuckling slightly, "Me, too."

"But I do owe it to Sam to help her out of this. Ric wouldn't be fucking with her, if he didn't think it would get to me."

Before Elizabeth can respond, a cry resounds throughout the tiny studio apartment. "That's my cue, time to be mommy again." Elizabeth reluctantly pulls out of Jason's arms to go pick Cameron up. Bringing him back over to Jason, they sit down beside him. "Hey baby, do you remember mommy's friend, Jason?"

Peeking out from Elizabeth's neck, Cameron looks at Jason nodding his head. "Home to Gwams howse."

"That's right baby. Jason brought mommy home to Grams the other night. Can you say hi to Jason?"

"Hi Jayson."

"Hey Cam, you're getting to be so big now. I remember when you were still in your mommy's tummy. You kicked me that day."

"I's sowwy. I's didn't mean to kick you's."

"It's okay, Cam. When you were in mommy's tummy, that's the only way you could say hi, so I know you were just saying hi to me that day."

Eyes wide at Jason's explanation, Cam smiled at his mommy's friend. He giggled, "I's couldn't talk in mommy's tummy. I's don't fink I's shouwd kick you's now, I's use my words wike a big boy."

"You sure do."

"Mommy."

"Yes, baby"

"I's hungwy, can we's have dinner now?"

"What do you think we should have for dinner, Cam?"

"Peeeet – zaaaaaaah!" he cried, enthusiastically.

"Pizza it is, then," Jason said, smiling at the little boy. Looking up at Elizabeth, "should we order in, or do you want me to have Francis go pick it up?"

"Let's order in, you're a fugitive, right?"

"Right. It probably wouldn't be a good idea if someone saw him bringing food to your studio."


	16. Chapter 16

_**A/N: I meant to post this earlier today (Sat), but time slipped away from me and I had to meet my family to go to the movies today. Prometheus – in 3D – it was awesome! Anyways, glad you enjoyed the convo between Jason and Elizabeth. I tried to make it open, but realistic to the characters' nature. I've always thought that if these two could just open up to each other about how they feel, they would be unbreakable. You can't always solve every problem in one conversation, but you can't solve any problem without communication. I think the writers have always written this couple completely wrong. They are the two people that actually can talk about anything, but the writers never showcased that when it came to an actual romantic relationship. They always made it – you're friends now talk about anything – oops, you've crossed the line now you can't talk about anything at all. WTH? Okay, stepping off my soap box… hope you enjoy!**_

**Chapter Sixteen**

Laughing at the young boy's enthusiasm for his toy motorcycles, Jason sat on the couch with Elizabeth's son and allowed himself to be a racetrack and ramp while the two played together. Cam was being very careful with Jason's leg after his mom told him that Jason had a boo-boo there. Glancing at the woman who'd been occupying most of his thoughts since that hot night in August, he saw that she was worrying her bottom lip with her teeth. Lust slammed into him, and he fought to rein it in. She didn't need his out of control hormones right now, there was obviously something on her mind. However, he couldn't help his mind drifting back to the night they made love. She'd chewed her lip that night, too, and he'd taken great pleasure in pulling it out from between her teeth, then set about to nibble on it himself. There had been no restraint that night, when he'd wanted to touch, he'd touched, when he'd wanted to kiss, he'd kissed. They had been completely open to each other that night.

"Elizabeth," he said softly, not wanting to draw Cam's attention to his mother. "Is everything alright? Do you want to talk about what's bothering you?"

Startled, she looked at her unborn baby's father, "What? No, I'm alright. I'm just thinking."

"Don't do that, Elizabeth. Don't shut me out, just tell me what's wrong."

"Nothing's…wrong, per se. I'm just thinking about how to break the news to L-U-C-K-Y," she said, spelling out the man's name so her young son wouldn't know who they were talking about. "I'm trying to remember that it's not up to me to keep him clean and sober, but I can't helping worrying that hearing about this baby is going to send him straight back to those stupid pills."

"You're right, it's not your job, or your responsibility. Besides, he has a family and other friends that can support him, if he needs it."

"And that's part of the problem, right there. Those friends and family have always _made_ it my responsibility, they always want to remind me about him putting me back together…back then."

"_HE_ didn't put you back together. _You_ did that on your own, because of your own inner strength. Yes, he helped, he made it easier for you to be comfortable in your own home, in your own skin. But I have _no_ doubt that you would have gotten there in your own time."

Smiling slightly at the faith he had in her, she whispered "Thank you. Just keep reminding me of that, at least until this is over with?"

A knock on the door interrupted anything else that Jason might have said. "Peeeeeee-tzaaaaaaaah!" Cameron cried. "Yay, it's here! I's soooooooo hungwy!"


	17. Chapter 17

_**A/N: Time to skip ahead, just a bit. Hope you like it!**_

**Chapter Seventeen**

Jason had proven that Sam was framed. And now, a couple of weeks later, Elizabeth was sitting on the couch in what used to be Sonny's penthouse. She and Jason had talked about where she would live with Cameron. Knowing that Harborview Towers would be the safest place for them to be, especially once word got out that she was carrying the mob enforcer's baby, she had agreed, albeit reluctantly, to move into the penthouse across from Jason. Once they were clear of their current entanglements, Jason said that he really wanted for them to work on their relationship, see where it would take them.

She was truly shocked to find out how deeply Jason already cared for, even loved, her. He had only told her the one time, back in her studio, that he did love her. But the things that he was _doing_ for her showed her how deeply he cared. And he loved spending time with her son. Glancing at the staircase, she could just barely hear the sounds of Cam's laughter as the stoic enforcer gave the rambunctious toddler his evening bath.

She knows that she will have to confront Lucky and tell him that the divorce will be going on as planned. The pregnant nurse also realizes that she still has to tell her soon-to-be ex-husband that the baby she is carrying is not his, but Jason's. Knowing how well that's going to go over, she's trying to figure out the best way to tell him, yet not risk her safety or the baby's. Maybe she will call Emily and talk to her about it tomorrow. She needs to tell her best friend, anyway. Hopefully, she won't be too mad at her, and maybe, just maybe, she will support her decision to be with Jason.

Walking down the steps of the penthouse, Jason watches Elizabeth worry her bottom lip. Her brow is wrinkled in concentration; he wonders what she could possibly be thinking about that hard.

"Hey," he says softly.

Gasping, "Oh, Jason, I didn't hear you come downstairs. Is Cam already asleep?"

"No, I was just going to read to him, but I thought you might want to come up and give him hugs and kisses first. What were you thinking about?"

Sighing, "A lot of different things, actually," she replies, getting up off the couch and starting for the stairs.

"Do you want to talk about it, after Cam goes to sleep? You look really worried about something; I can tell it's bothering you, whatever it is. I'd like to help, if I can."

Walking down the hall to her son's new bedroom, she glances over her shoulder, "Yes, I do have a lot on my mind, and I could use your advice, if you're up for it."

"Of course."

"MOMMY!" the little boy bounces excitedly on his bed. "Jayson's gonna weed me a stowy!"

"I know, he told me. So how about hugs and kisses, baby?"

"Yes, yes, yes!"

A handful of hugs and kisses and good nights later, Elizabeth ruffles her son's hair, "Okay, I'll leave you and Jason alone for story time. Sleep well baby and I'll see you in the morning."

Going into her bedroom, Elizabeth changes into some yoga pants and a t-shirt. No need to be uncomfortable while she's talking to Jason, she reasons. Heading back downstairs to the couch, she still marvels at how quickly Jason was able to transform the once dark and heavy penthouse into something light and airy that suited the artist in her much more. Thinking back to the day he brought her here after they left the studio. She was completely shocked. Gone were the dark paneled walls, the heavy furniture and drapery. In its place, the walls had been stripped and painted in light, open colors. The furniture was beautiful, but not too girly, and she was glad for that. She really did have simple tastes when it came to decorating.

Sinking into the leather couch, she stretched and realizing that she's actually quite tired. Her brain was over-taxed with all of the changes that were being made. She still can't believe that they are here. She has loved Jason for so long, even when she told herself she didn't love him, or she just stuffed her feeling for him so deep that she didn't have to think about it. She thinks back on just how long she _has_ been in love with him. Even through all the heartache of their break-up, and when she was married to Lucky or Ric, she still loved Jason. She hated that time when she was with Ric, not just because of the horrible things that he had done, but because she and Jason had been so far apart.


	18. Chapter 18

_**A/N: I suppose that these are more like vignettes, as they really are mostly one scene at a time. And while each part of the story does seem to take some time to get out, I do plan on skipping periods of time, otherwise this story could end up an untold number of chapters. {grin} Bear with me, I'm still feeling my way around writing a story, let alone a story as intricate as this. I know that several of the recent chapters have mainly been from Elizabeth's POV, I can explain, when I first started this story, it was originally going to be told from mainly her POV. Before I started posting, though, I decided to change a few things (like Jason was the one with the memories instead of Elizabeth), so a lot of these scenes from her POV are from the original story. It will change as I get beyond what I had originally written and into the newer stuff. Yes, Elizabeth is spending a LOT of time worrying about how Lucky is going to handle hearing the truth. But, let's face it, how many months and months did GH spend on that very subject? We all know how volatile Spencer can be, so I can't say that she would be wrong in worrying. Anyway, the Lucky reveal is coming soon – there are a couple of other things to get to between now and then. Hope that clears some things up! Now, on with the show!**_

**Chapter Eighteen**

"Cam's asleep," Jason said, as he stepped off the staircase. Walking around the couch, he sat down facing Elizabeth.

"How many stories did he get you to read to him?" she giggled.

"Two. Then I pulled out my travel guide on Italy and read a chapter to him before he was ready to go to sleep."

"Mmmmmm…..who knew travel guides could be a substitute for bedtime stories?" she smirked, looking up at him.

"Well, I'm pretty sure it's not the book itself, but just hearing someone talking that gets the job done." Picking up one of Elizabeth's hands, he threads their fingers together. "So, you wanna tell me what you were thinking about so hard before?"

Shrugging her shoulders, "I was mainly thinking about how much things have changed. And, I'm still nervous about telling Lucky that this baby isn't his. I know he pinned his entire recovery process on being a father to a child that he didn't even know there was a possibility might not be his. I'm just not sure how he's going to react. He's only been out of rehab for a couple of weeks, and I can't decide if I should tell him in public or in private."

"Do you want me to go with you to tell him?"

"Yes and no." Looking up at Jason, she sees the questions in his eyes, "No, because I don't think he will hear anything I have to say if you are there with me. As soon as I tell him the baby's not his, if you are there, he's going to know it's yours, and he won't listen to anything I have to say. Yes, because I'd love to have your support when I tell him. I know he's going to be angry either way, and that's my own fault for not telling him about the night of the blackout."

"You had your reasons for not telling him. You didn't know that you were pregnant after that night. You didn't know that the baby would be mine. I would prefer to go with you. Lucky's gotten pretty angry and irrational; you've gotten hurt because of his anger. I don't want to risk something happening to you if he can't control himself."

"I would love to be able to say that Lucky would never hurt me, now that he's not using, but I'm not entirely sure that would be true. He's been so insanely jealous of you since he was returned from Helena, I just don't know if I can trust him anymore," she sighed, sadly. "I want to believe that he would never hurt me, physically, but I know that he's going to be angry enough to want to at least hurt me emotionally. He has every right to hate me for not being honest with him."

"No, he doesn't. Yes, he can be angry that you didn't tell him about our night together, that he didn't know it was a possibility he wasn't the father. But, it's not like you are planning on letting him continue to believe this baby is his. Maybe if you continued to lie to him for months or years, let him think that he was the baby's father, then he would have that right. You're not doing that, you only found out that you're carrying my child a little while ago, and he did just get out of rehab. You let him concentrate on having time with Laura while she was cognizant of the things going on around her. You aren't going to lie to him now; you are going to be honest with him."

"Wouldn't you hate me, if I lied to you, even if it was by omission?"

"I don't think I could ever hate you, Elizabeth. I might not understand why you lied to me, or didn't tell me something important. But, I'd like to think that I would listen to you and try to understand."

"That's the difference between you and Lucky. You would actually listen to me, then knowing you, try to make it your fault that I lied. Lucky is just going to be hurt and angry and want to blame me for everything. He won't want to hear anything after I tell him I slept with you and this is your child." She leaned back and rested her head against the back of the couch. "I want to tell Emily, maybe ask for her advice, since Lucky is one of her oldest friends. I mean, if you're okay with that. And if she's not too mad that I slept with her brother and got knocked up, that is."

"Yeah, we should tell Emily. I just don't know if I want the Quartermaine's to know. Edward has been trying to get me back in the family fold for years, and he will just see this as a way to try and drag me back. I don't want our child to be used that way. And you didn't get knocked up, we made love and you're pregnant with my baby."

Thinking back to Alan's death after the MetroCourt crisis, Jason is hoping to mend his relationship with his father before Alan dies in a few months, unless he can find a way to prevent it. Running his free hand down his face, he looks at his beautiful girl, "Although, I've been thinking a lot about how I've treated Alan in the past, how I'm always pushing him away. It makes me wonder what I would do, how I would react if this child didn't know who I am. I guess I've been wondering if I've been too hard on my father."

"From what you told me, Monica and Alan had a very hard time accepting that you weren't Jason Quartermaine anymore. I can understand how angry that had to make you feel, since you weren't that person when you woke. You didn't remember who you were, who they were, and you've told me how they pushed and pushed until you finally pushed back and walked away. I know you felt justified, at least back then, for running away from your family. I've seen how they react to Jason Morgan, and know that they sometimes don't seem to accept the fact that Jason Quartermaine is gone forever. But," she paused, trying to collect her thoughts, "what happens when there's no more time to make things, maybe not right, but maybe, better between you. How do you think you would feel if one of them was gone tomorrow and there was no chance to make a change with them?"

Thinking that she had maybe seen or heard something at the hospital, maybe something wrong with one of his….parents, "Is there something wrong? Is one of them sick or something? What aren't you telling me, Elizabeth?"

"No, Jason, I don't think there's anything physically wrong with either of your parents. I mean, I haven't heard anyone say anything that leads me to believe one of them is sick or anything. I was just thinking that we never know what's going to happen in the future, and I'd hate for you to miss out on reconnecting with them if something did happen," she told him, slightly confused over his worry.

Wanting to table the discussion of the Quartermaine's for now, "Let's worry about that later. I think we've got enough on our plates without adding my estranged and rather dysfunctional family right now. Was there something else bothering you, or was it just Lucky and his reaction?" he asked, almost as if he knew there was more to her earlier thoughts than she had admitted to.

"What are you going to do about _her_?" she asked, grudgingly.

"Who, Sam?" amused by the fact that she rarely said her name, unless forced into it. It was always _she_ or _her_ and always through gritted teeth.

Rolling her eyes before looking at him, "Yes, that's who I meant."

"Now that I'm officially back in town, I called her and told her I wanted to see her."

"Mmmmmm…and what are you planning on telling her?"

"The truth. That this baby is mine, she and I are done, have been done for quite a while now, and you and I are seeing where our relationship may take us."

"Do you really think it's necessary to tell her about us? Does she really need to know that?"

"I think it would help her to move on, yes. I don't think it's a good idea for her to wait around thinking or wondering if I'm going to come back to her. I think, even if this baby wasn't mine, I need to be honest with her and tell her that I can't let go of what she did that night. Besides, she needs to try to work on her relationship with Alexis. And she needs to focus on her sisters."

"I guess I'm wondering if she's going to try to undermine us. What if she thinks that she is 'saving' you from the likes of me, knowing how much you love her, and I'm just playing you to get a daddy for my two kids?"

"I don't need saving from you, remember, you are the one that always _saves_ me," he smirked.

"Sorry, I just don't want her to cause trouble. And I meant what I said the other day, if you really want to make a go with _her_, I won't stand in your way."

"What if I want you to stand in my way? What if I want to stand in your way if Lucky wants you back?"

Eyebrows raised at the prospect of Jason actually putting it out there, even a little bit, made the hope in her flare anew. "You would?"

"Unless it's what you really want, Elizabeth. Do you? Do you want for Lucky to be okay with raising my child with you? Would you rather be with him?" he asked, fear creeping into his eyes.

Seeing the fear that she would, once again, choose Lucky over him, broke her heart in two. "No," she whispered. "No, that's not what I want."

As always, his fears about Luckless reared their ugly head, "I just need to know that this is what you want, you and me and our kids, together."

Looking into Jason's ice blue eyes, "Our _kids_?"

Embarrassed that he had unwittingly admitted how he felt about the toddler sleeping upstairs, the mob enforcer looked down, "Yes, kids. I already think of Cameron as my own. He's so easy to love. I want to be a father to both kids, if you'll let me."

Tears sprang into Elizabeth's eyes as she dipped down to look at Jason, "You don't know just how much it means to me that you want to be a father to Cameron. When Lucky agreed to raise him, he would do things with Cam; he let him call him Daddy. But more and more, he's been spending so little time with Cam, and Cam doesn't understand why his Daddy won't play with him anymore. It's been so hard having to explain to him night after night why his Daddy isn't coming around anymore. And these last few days with you, he hasn't even asked about Lucky. He's been so happy, happier than I've seen him in a long time."

Letting out the breath he didn't realize he was holding in, Jason captured Elizabeth's chin with one hand and cupped the back of her head with the other. He leaned in and brushed his lips across hers, gently, once, twice and again. When she didn't pull back or resist, he applied more pressure. Running his tongue across the seam of her lips seeking entrance, which she granted immediately, tongues dueling and re-igniting the fires that had started burning that hot August night. Wrapping her arms around his neck and leaning into him with her body, she surrendered to the passion that was building between them. Long minutes spent just enjoying their mouths making love to each other, Jason finally pulled back when air became an issue. He rested his forehead against hers and breathed deeply. "I love you, Elizabeth."

Looking in his beautiful ice blue eyes, she can see the love that he speaks of, and she responds in kind, "I love you too, Jason."

Pulling back slightly, yet not breaking their contact, he sighs, remembering that he still hasn't had his conversation with Sam. He doesn't want to start their relationship with his old one still hanging between them. "I want, so much, to make love to you now. But I need to tell Sam first. I want her and I to have a clean break before we go any further. I don't want to disrespect our relationship by making love to you while she doesn't know that we are through. Are you okay with that?"

Smiling gently at him, "And I want my divorce from Lucky to be final, too. While my marriage to Lucky is over, I don't want to disrespect our relationship by making love to you while he doesn't realize that we are through."


	19. Chapter 19

_**A/N: Okay everybody – here's the first confrontation – hope you like it!**_

**Chapter Nineteen**

Jason is dreading the confrontation about to happen. He is well aware of how things are going to go once she gets here. He would have chosen a more public place to have this conversation, but he knows that a public setting won't stop Sam from causing a scene. At least at his penthouse, her crying and screaming at him won't be heard by half of Port Charles. He knows that she is going to do both. The knock on the door is expected, but he still tenses. Taking a deep breath to relax his already tense shoulders, he opens the door, "Sam." He backs up to allow her space to enter.

Feigning ignorance, Sam sighs his name and wraps her arms around him as if to never let go. "I was so glad when you called and wanted to see me. We haven't spent any time together since you cleared my name. Why didn't you answer my calls, or at least call me back?" she whines.

Extricating himself from her stranglehold, Jason puts her away from him, "I told Sonny that I needed a few days off to clear my head. I turned my phone off so that I could do that."

Hands on her hips, she levels him with a glare, "But I needed you! And what if something would have happened that Sonny needed you? How could you do that to us?"

Pinching the bridge of his nose, he looks at Sam wondering, 'What in the hell did I ever see in this woman?' Sighing, he replies, "If something had happened and Sonny really needed me, he knew how to get in touch with me. As for everyone else, I needed the time off. I can't imagine anything so pressing that couldn't wait a couple of days while I took care of a few things."

Not liking where this conversation was headed, Sam tries to pretend all is well. Sitting on the couch, she turns to the enforcer and trying to sound contrite, "I'm sorry, it's just that with everything going on with my mother and Ric, I really could have used someone to talk to. And since I always talk my problems through with you, I got upset when I couldn't get ahold of you."

"Look, I'm sorry things aren't going well with Alexis, but I can't really blame her for being angry with you. I'm sure that she is glad you are being there for your sisters, though. But that's not why I wanted to talk to you. There are some things that I need to tell you."

Jumping up from the couch, she once again tries to wrap her arms around Jason, "Whatever it is, I'm sure that we can handle it, together, like we've always done. That's where we've been headed, back to the place where we are together, like we were always meant to be, before you started pushing me away."

Backing out of her embrace once again, Jason sits her back down on the couch, "That's just it Sam, we're not getting back to that place, we're not even close to that place. We are not working, Sam. And, it's not what I want anymore."

Sam's tears start to fall unimpeded down her face, "What do you mean it's not what you want? How can you say that? That's what we've been working towards since the mistakes we made this summer."

"I mean, I don't want to try to make us work. We don't work anymore. There's too much between us now. And I can't get past what you did with your mother's husband," he sighed. He knew this wasn't going to be easy, but he hated being right about it.

"I've apologized again and again for that and I truly regret that I slept with Ric, can't you see that?" she sobbed hysterically. "I know we can get past this and forgive each other for cheating on each other. I love you and I know you love me!"

"There's nothing to forgive, Sam. We weren't together. We didn't cheat on each other. And I can't forget what you did, what I saw you do," he replied. He _was_ sorry that she was hurting, but he couldn't help the way he felt, about Ric, and about Elizabeth and his baby. "I'm sorry you are hurting, but it's time that we moved on."

Instantly enraged, "Oh, so that's what this is about. You're trying to dump me because that bitch in heat got knocked up?"

Never had he turned "stone cold" so fast in his life, "Leave Elizabeth out of this! This is MY decision."

"One you would never have made if she hadn't come running to tell you she was pregnant and that you might be the father! So, St. Elizabitch can do no wrong. She screws around on her husband, and she still comes up a saint in your eyes because she can carry a baby. I can't have children anymore, _because of you_," she twists that knife, knowing that it has always made him feel guilty, "and I am what, just the slut who slept with her mother's husband that you can't forgive!"

"Sam, I'm sorry that you can't have children, but you can't continue to beat me over the head with it to guilt me into staying together. We were done when I pushed you away; you just need to accept it. And, I owe it to you to tell you that I am the father of Elizabeth's baby. But, whatever she and I decide to do has no bearing on the fact that our relationship is over," he stated icily. God, he was tired of this conversation. "Honestly, even if I wasn't the baby's father and she came to me and wanted me, I would choose her," he paused. "I've been in love with Elizabeth for a very long time, long before you ever came to Port Charles."

"So, that's it, I'm just supposed to accept this? I screwed up, Jason, I know that! But that doesn't mean that we just give up or forget about the love that we share damn it! I can't believe that you think I would give up on us just because some bitch in heat got knocked up and wants to claim that the baby is yours because she doesn't want a cheating drug addict to be her baby's father! She's lying to you, can't you see that, Jason?" she screamed.

"ENOUGH! Sam, you need to leave Elizabeth out of this. She is not lying to me," Jason replied, frustrated with the course of the conversation.

"Okay, even if she isn't lying to you, and you are her baby's father, it doesn't mean that we can't be together," she started, building up the excitement in her voice. "We can still be together and raise this baby together. We can be the family that we've always dreamed of being, you, me and this baby, together. She doesn't matter; you and I can raise your baby, just like we planned. We'll get a lawyer and get custody of the baby as soon as it's born, it will be perfect, she can't fight us!"

Shaking his head, trying to wrap his mind around how she can go from angry resentment to excitement about another woman losing a child, "Sam, I am NOT going to take Elizabeth's baby away from her. WE, meaning you and I, are not raising this child together. I can't believe you would even _think_ about making another woman lose her child after what you've been through. What the hell?"

Some of the excitement dimmed, but still determined to make Jason stay with her, "You're right, I shouldn't have said that. But, we can still be a family together, even if we only have the baby part-time. I get that we shouldn't take the baby completely away from _her_. She could have visitation."

"Would you listen to yourself? I am not keeping my baby away from his or her mother. We are not going to be a family. We are not getting back together. Whatever decisions are made for my baby's future, those decisions will be between me and Elizabeth," he stated.

"And I'm just supposed to move out of the way while she gets the life and the family that you promised to me, Jason? I don't think so. I'm not going to just go away and let her take you from me," Sam replied.

"She is not taking anything from you. How many times do I have to say it? We're not together anymore, we're done. Sam, I'm not in love with you, not anymore. There's too much that has happened," the blue-eyed enforce told her, wearily. "I don't think there's anything more to say." Jason walks to the door of his penthouse and opens it. "Maybe you should just go now."

"This is NOT over, Jason. I will not accept that you don't love me and don't want to be with me anymore."


	20. Chapter 20

_**A/N: I hope you all liked how Jason told Sam how it was! Up next….. dun dun dunnnnnnn… the "best friend"! Tell me what you think! I find that I've become quite addicted to your responses – it's so cool that you all seem to be enjoying my story! And, as I'm sure you have figured out by now, I love leaving you with little cliffhangers. I hope that they make you want to come back to see what happens! **_

**Chapter Twenty**

Sam storms out of the penthouse just as Carly gets off the elevator and heads straight for him. 'What the hell? Who did I piss off today?' Jason was not ready to deal with Carly, but as usual, she doesn't really care what he wants.

"Jason!" she exclaims. "I'm so glad you're back. Why was Sam leaving, and why was she so upset? Don't tell me you two got into a fight about Ric again? You really need to forgive her, Jase."

"You just don't know when to quit, do you Carly?" Jason snarled at her. "What do you want, anyway?"

"Don't snap at me!" Carly fired back.

"Look Carly, I've had a very long day and I just had a difficult conversation with Sam. I'm not in the mood to deal with your problems, too. So just say whatever it is you have to say and go home."

"You know, you only ever get like this when you've been hanging around Elizabeth too much," Carly started in.

"Why don't you leave Elizabeth out of this?"

"Because, Jase, she's the one that's causing all of the problems between us. You always start defending her and leave me hanging in the wind."

"Ah, so you're pissed because I maybe missed a hangnail crisis. Jeez Carly, go talk to Jax about it, I don't care."

"See, that….that right there is what I'm talking about. Elizabeth gets herself knocked up and you go riding in with your white knight syndrome to come and rescue her. She is so damn good at playing the damsel in distress that you fall for it, every single time. And in the process, you ignore your family and friends."

"Another problem with Michael you need me to solve for you? Is that it Carly?" the mob enforcer asked, wondering when she would get to the point.

"Michael is doing just fine. But you would know that if you spent any amount of time with him," the blond barked at him. "He misses his Uncle Jason. You need to come over to the house and spend some time with him."

"What about Morgan?"

"What about Morgan?" she questioned.

"Well, apparently I need to come and visit Michael, but you obviously forgot that you have two children, Morgan being one of them."

"Damn it Jason, that's just a given. If you come over and spend time with Michael, Morgan will be there and you will get to see him."

"Look, I've got some things that I need to settle, but I will come over and visit the boys, okay? Is that all?"

"What the hell is going on with you Jason? You disappeared for days, I couldn't find you anywhere. And now you are acting like it's an inconvenience that I came by to see you."

"Carly, I told you, it's been a very long day. I'm tired and I just want to finish a few things, okay?"

"No, it's not okay," she told him, pushing him farther. She was really pissed at him ignoring her calls. "I tried calling you. You never picked up, all I got was your voice mail, and you didn't return any of my messages. What if I had really needed you? Did you even listen to your messages?"

"Some of them."

"What have you been doing? Sonny didn't tell me about any assignments that he'd sent you on. He said that you decided to take a few days off. Why?"

"Because I wanted to. I had a few personal things to take care of. And Sonny shouldn't be telling you anything about our business, you're not married to him anymore."

"What, like the muffin face? What did she do, come crying to you because she's upset that the baby turned out to be my cousin's? So what, boo-freakin-hoo! She married the loser, now she just needs to go back to him so she can keep wiping his nose for him!" Carly exclaimed.

"Carly, we're done. What I do or don't do to help out Elizabeth is not your concern."

"It is when you start ignoring your family. When you are pushing the woman that you love away. You need to go after Sam. Tell her that you forgive her and you're ready to move on. _She_ is the one for you. What did I tell you about getting sucked back up in muffin's world? You can't do it, Jason, you just can't. She's gonna break your heart again, if you try to go down this road. I'm trying to stop you from making a mistake you will regret. You will never get Sam back if you go after Elizabeth. She won't forgive you for that. Just tell her you're sorry for sleeping with the muffin and that you forgive her for sleeping with Ric."

"Sam and I are through. I made that perfectly clear to her today. So, no, I won't be going after her. I _am_ sorry that she is hurting, but I can't change what is."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"Just what it sounded like. Sam and I are done, we're not together anymore."

"You can't mean that Jason. You love her and she loves you. You two are perfect together. She gets this life that you lead. She fits in to your life."

"Sam is a danger junkie, that doesn't not mean that she gets or fits my life. It's not what I want."

"Of course that's what you want, it's what you need. Someone that's not going to complain about what you do, who you have to protect, or lie to protect, or when you have to do it. Sam understands that, besides, as much as I may hate it, you do love her."

"While there was a time that I did fall for Sam, with everything that has happened this year, I don't feel the same way anymore. She needs to move on and stop waiting for me to forgive her. I realized that it just wasn't going to happen."

Realization dawning on her, Carly asked, "When did you realize that it wasn't going to happen?"

"Since the night I saw her sleeping with her step-father. Yes, I tried to move past it and forgive her, and as much as I care about Sam, I just can't get past it."

"Are you sure it wasn't since you were shot and staying at the muffin's old studio?"

"Carly, how many times have I told you about what happened between me and Sam and that I couldn't forgive what she'd done? Why are you making such a big deal about this?"

"Because she, for some reason I don't understand, made you happy. And I don't want to see you go down a road you've already travelled and get your heart broken again. Not when the woman that you've spent the last couple of years with has made you happier than I've ever seen you before."

Snorting out loud, "Now that's a load of crap if I've ever heard it. Do you keep this stuff in your head to re-use over and over again? Because I could swear that you said almost the exact same thing about me and Courtney, too."

"Well, if Courtney were still alive, I'd be jumping up and down that you got rid of the trash you've been dating and push you to try to make up with her. But, since my best girl-friend is dead, I'm stuck with what I have to work with."

"Here's a thought, why don't you just stay out of my personal life, Carly?"

"No, Jase, I just want you to be happy. And, if you are with Sam, then you can't play the hero for every damsel in distress out there. It will keep you away from Elizabeth."

Shaking his head in wonder, "I really don't get what you have against Elizabeth. Besides, if I get hurt, that's my problem to deal with, not yours."

"No, it's not, Jason. Don't you get it? If you head down that road with that muffin faced, holier-than-thou Elizabeth _Spencer_, you are going to get hurt again. I won't have it!" Carly said, actually stomping her foot. "And you don't need to be playing daddy to her two little bastards!"

Jason Morgan, the most feared mob enforcer on the east coast, went deadly silent. Getting up from the couch, he walked back over to his penthouse door. Opening it, he looked at Carly, "Get out!" was all he said.


	21. Chapter 21

_**A/N: I have my moments where I like Carly, then I have my moments when I hate Carly. I've always detested her need to control Jason's life. I'm going with the hate this time. Is anyone else as hopeful as I am that GH is heading to a Liason reunion? I just watched today's scenes with Jason and Elizabeth – damn! They've still got it. (spoiler alert) I love the part where Jason states that if Ewen doesn't treat Elizabeth right the doctor will answer to the enforcer. Woo Hoo!**_

_**Oh, yeah, in case I haven't said it in a while – I still don't own the characters, but I do claim this storyline!**_

**Chapter Twenty-One**

Missing the look of complete and utter rage on her 'best friend's' face, she continued, "NO! What do you mean 'get out'? Jason, I'm not leaving until you tell me that you are not falling for that whey-faced, stupid little bitch!"

Before he did something he might later regret, he stalked over to Carly, grabbed her by the arm and walked her out of his penthouse. Seething in a red-hot rage, grounding out his words, "Carly, I said get the fuck out now, and I mean it! I do NOT want to see you for a while, do you understand what I'm saying to you. Don't call me, don't come by here, stay away!" Slamming the door in her face, and bolting it, before she could issue another word.

"FUCK!" he yelled. He stormed upstairs, he needed to do something to clear the rage he felt. He needed to clear his head and think about everything. He couldn't _believe_ that Carly had the audacity to call his sons, his children, bastards! What the hell! Waiting for the pounding on the door to stop, he walks into his bedroom. Seeing several items of Sam's scattered throughout the room, he makes a decision. Grabbing some empty boxes, he starts tossing her stuff into the empty boxes. It was time to clean house!

Finding some of her clothes still in his closet, he grabs an empty suitcase. In go all the rest of her two-sizes too small clothes. Taking the boxes and the suitcases down to the front door, he hears silence. It seems that Carly has given up and left. Thank goodness. He meant what he said to her. He didn't want to talk to her, and he most definitely didn't want to see her right now. He knew that Carly didn't like Elizabeth, although he still didn't understand why, even after their conversation earlier. But, to be so hateful in her attitude towards the mother of his child and the child he secretly held in his heart, she went too far when she called them bastards! It was going to take him a while to be able to talk to her again.

Deciding to go for a ride, Jason calls the guards to come and take Sam's stuff to her mother, Alexis', house. He knew that Sam wasn't just going to go away quietly. He had a feeling there would be several more conversations, confrontations. But, he knew that in the rage he was still in, things would not go well. He would need to be calm in order to deal with what he knew would be her outrage at him, at Elizabeth.

Hopping on his bike, he sped out of Port Charles. He stopped just long enough at Vista Pointe to leave Elizabeth a voice mail, so she hopefully wouldn't worry. He told her to call if she needed anything, that he would be close by, just not in the city. He stopped just short of offering to come back and pick her up, he knew that he needed some time alone to calm down. He never wants Elizabeth to see him this angry.

That accomplished, he turned the bike out of town and sped off. He wanted the speed and the wind to take everything away, just for a little while. He wanted to be able to think things through.

Slamming into the living room at Greystone, Carly sees Sonny behind his desk working. He barely glanced up as she came barreling up to the desk, a ball of fury, in true 'Hurricane Carly' fashion. "Can I help you with something, Carly?"

"You can get off your ass and help me save Jason!"

"What's wrong with Jason? Is he hurt? He hasn't called me saying he needs help, he was taking a couple of days off, according to voice mail he left me."

"We have to DO something before he does something stupid that he'll regret for the rest of his life. He's gonna lose Sam in the process, if he's not stopped. We HAVE to save him!"

"Slow down, Carly. What the hell are you talking about? Jason and Sam are working on their relationship. What are we supposed to be saving him from?"

"Not what, Sonny, who! Elizabeth fucking Spencer, that's who! She's going to sink her claws into him, she's using him to get a daddy for her two little bastards. And Jason, well Jason is just eating it up like candy at Halloween! She's gonna suck the life right out of him. She's gonna make him change. He's already turned on me – he turned on me, do you get that Sonny? He actually kicked me out of his house and it's all because of that lying bitch!"

Well, this was an interesting turn of events. Perhaps he had misread the situation at the hospital, although Elizabeth didn't deny that Lucky was the father, she certainly didn't speak up and correct him, either. She seemed to agree with him when he said Lucky being the father was for the best. Now, he can't help but remember how upset she'd been after they had talked, after he'd driven home the fact that he thought Jason wasn't ready for a family, how dangerous his job was, and on and on he'd went. If that was the case, no wonder she didn't contradict him.

"SONNY! Are you even listening to me?"

"No, actually Carly, I wasn't. And you know what, you really should stay out of Jason's personal life. He needs to decide for himself, what he wants, and who he wants it with."

"Sonny, he can't do that, don't you see. That damned bitch keeps him so tied up in knots he doesn't know left from right! We have to fix this for him, before she steals him away from his _real_ family! I'm surprised that she hasn't tried to lie and tell Jason that he is actually the father of her baby."

"You need to keep your nose out of this. Jason's not gonna want you messing in his personal life, or harming Elizabeth. You're only going to alienate him, if you keep butting in."

"No, the trick is to do it without going directly at Jason. Make him distance himself from her until she gets mad and walks away."

"What if Jason actually is the father of her baby? Then, you'd be keeping him away from his kid."

"Sam. I've got to get him to get Sam pregnant, that way he won't care one way or the other about Elizabeth's brat. I'm not going to sit back and watch that bitch destroy my best friend again. I have gotten rid of her before; I can damn sure do it again."

Astounded at the venom spewing from his ex-wife's mouth, he was shocked to hear her half confession to some past scheme. "How, exactly, did you get rid of her before, Carly?"

"Oh, don't worry about it. This next plan will be even better than the last! Are you going to help me, or not?" she demanded.

"I think I'll sit this one out, and I would strongly suggest that you do the same."

"Whatever Sonny. Bye!"


	22. Chapter 22

_**A/N: Sorry for the long absence between this post and the last. I've been really, really busy at work. I just celebrated my birthday, so hopefully, things will calm down now and I can get back to more regular posts again. I really like the idea of Sonny being the good guy that I know he CAN be….. so in my story, I'm going to turn him around and make it so.**_

_**Disclaimer: I still own nothing!**_

**Chapter Twenty-Two**

Sonny was sitting behind his desk working on some of the business dealings when Sam sauntered in. Looking up, surprised, "Sam, what are you doing here?"

"I was hoping you could tell me where Jaysin is, Sonny," she whined.

"Last I heard from him, he was taking a couple of days off to go riding, clear his head. Is there something you need?"

"Jaysin. Jaysin is what I need, Sonny. You need to call him, tell him he's needed for the business or something. Make it sound important."

"And, why would I do that? If Jason needs to clear his head, the last place I would want him is here and he knows that," Sonny tried to reason with the delusional woman.

"Jaysin knows that you would call him back if it were truly important, and that you would expect him to put his personal feelings aside and do what needs to be done. I just need to talk to him. I need to tell him I want to come home. I should be at our home by now. Now that the threat from Ric has been taken care of, I should be home."

"And you do realize, that if I were to call Jason and lie to him about the business that it would be my head on a platter when he found out that he was being manipulated and lied to?" Sonny asked her, incredulously.

"So-o-o-o-nnnnny," she said, attempting to sound sexy, but it only came out like whining, "I can make him forget all about that. But, I can't do anything unless I can get Jaysin in the same room with me. I'm losing him, to that lying, manipulative Elizabitch."

Exasperated, 'first Carly, now Sam, who did I piss off today?', "Sam, you just asked me to call and lie to Jason, yet you want to call Elizabeth," emphasizing his old friend's name, "lying and manipulative. Isn't that like the pot calling the kettle?"

Stamping her foot in frustration, "I can't, I _won't_ lose Jaysin. He's MINE! We've been through too much together for it to just be over! I'm not giving Jaysin up, just because _she_ got herself knocked up and now wants to play house with MY fiancé! I love him, Sonny! I don't know what I would do if I lost him! Please, you've got to help me! Please, do it for our daughter Lila. Jaysin and I can still have a chance at being a family, and this time, I'll have Jaysin's child!"

'Wow, how could I never see how crazy she is?' Sonny asked himself. He cannot believe she would try to use their dead daughter to guilt him into helping her. "I'm sorry, Sam. I'm not going to lie to Jason for you. If you are smart, you will give Jason the space he needs to figure this out on his own. He doesn't like anyone to dictate his actions, and I'm not going to help you do it."

Anger radiated off Sam in waves, "I'm not trying to dictate how Jason lives his life. _I_ get his life. _I_ fit his life. Not that pasty faced, goody-goody, home-wrecking _nurse_! Damn you, Sonny! Don't you want Jaysin to be happy?"

Sitting back, he ran a hand through his jet black wavy hair, "I do. And I've been thinking that maybe, for the first time in a long time, he will be."

"How can you say that, Sonny? You _know_ how happy Jaysin and I were before I got shot and he decided to push me away! I can't believe you would take the side of that….that….that…..ARGHHHHHH…..bitch, over the mother of one of your children!"

"Stop it! Just stop it, Sam! Do NOT use our daughter against me! Look, all I'm saying is that I think if you don't back off and stop attacking Elizabeth, you _are_ going to lose Jason once and for all."

"NO! NO, I am NOT giving up on Jaysin. He's MINE and he's going to _stay_ mine!" Snatching her bag off the couch, she stormed out of Greystone Manor, slamming the front door behind her.

"MAX! Get in here!"

"Yeah, Boss?" the burly guard replied.

"Get someone tailing Sam. I don't know what she's up to, but whatever it is, it can't be good."

Max started to leave to make the arrangements. "Oh, and Max, get someone on Carly, too."

"Mrs. C? You want a tail for Mrs. C?" the guard asked, nervously.

"Yes, Max. Look, I _know_ you have a huge crush on her, but Carly's planning something, and you don't need me to tell you, her plans don't usually go well. If she's planning on going after Elizabeth, there's no telling what Jason will do to her. Being his 'best friend' won't save her, not this time," he sighed.

"Yes sir, Boss."

Sitting back in his leather chair, Sonny stared out onto his terrace and tried to decide what, or how much, to tell Jason about two of the women in his life. For the first time, in quite a long time, Sonny thought about someone else's needs, other than his own. He would normally talk to Jason about what to do, but since this was about Jason, he wasn't sure that he was doing the right thing. Jason was his best friend, no, his brother. He owed it to the younger man, after everything the enforcer has done for him over the years, to be the friend and brother that he knew he needed to be.


	23. Chapter 23

_**A/N: Sorry for the long delay…..too much work and not enough time to feed the muse. She's being a bitch and hiding from me. She peeked out at me today, but not for this story. She's churning something completely different. I'm trying to get her back on track. **_

**Chapter Twenty-Three**

Four days later, a frustrated Carly was running out of patience. She hasn't been able to track Jason down, and he hasn't been answering his cell, nor has he returned any of her numerous voice mails. "Damn him!" she swore, "Where the hell is he?"

"Who are you talking about, Carly?" Jax asked, walking into her office at the MetroCourt.

"Jason. I've been trying for days to get ahold of him. I need to talk to him. He's not answering his cell phone and he hasn't called me, not even _once_ to let me know he's okay," she told her fiancé. "No one has seen Elizabeth, either. I'm just hoping he's not with her! I can't talk any sense into him, if I can't find him, or get him to return my calls."

"Well, love, maybe you should take that as a sign that he's where he wants to be, and he's not interested in your opinion on his personal life," the Australian replied blandly, knowing that his statement would go in one ear, and right back out of the other. It irked him that she was completely absorbed in Jason and who else was involved in Jason's life, especially his love life. He wished he could get her to see reason, and that, as much as he didn't like what the man did for a living, said man deserved to make his own decisions and do whatever would make himself happy.

"No, that's not it. I _know_, I feel, that wherever Jason is, that goody, goody, muffin face is with him. She's talking in his ear, telling him that in order to claim her bastard children, he's going to have to turn his back on his _real_ family, me and the boys, especially Michael," she stated with venom. "She's going to make him choose, that little bitch!"

"Wow! That's a really high opinion you have of your 'best friend', Carly," Jax sighed.

Snapping her eyes up to her fiancé's, she asks wildly, "What? What the hell are you talking about Jax? What the fuck does that mean? I have the highest opinion in the world of Jason."

"Then don't you think you should let him come to his own decisions, about his own life, as opposed to believing that Jason can be told what to do? Maybe if you really had such a high opinion of him, you would stop treating him like a brain damaged idiot that doesn't know his own mind."

"I do NOT treat him like that! I'm his 'best friend', and I know that if he spends too much time around the muffin face, he's going to start changing to accommodate her wishes. It's always about what she wants, never about what Jason needs."

"And, pray tell, what is it that you think Jason needs?" he asks snidely.

"His family. His _true_ family. Not that lying, gold-digging bitch. I swear, she's probably telling him that this baby is his so that she doesn't have to go back to her drug addict husband. I mean, why wouldn't she lie about who her baby's father is, given the choice?"

"Maybe because Elizabeth has more integrity than to lie about something so important. Not to mention, a secret like that would be bound to come out sooner or later, someone would figure it out, or she would end up telling the truth because it's not in her to lie like that."

"Oh, yes, I did seem to forget, you are a part of the Elizabeth _Spencer_ fan club. She is still married to my cousin," she said with disdain, although it was hard to distinguish if the disdain was for the woman herself or his fiancé's cousin.

"She's divorcing your cousin," he stated quietly.

"Yeah, well, we'll see about that. She has made it quite the habit over the years of saying one thing, then running right back to Lucky Spencer. Every time she has done that, she has trampled all over Jason's heart. I'm not going to sit back and let that happen again. I'm not going to wait for Jason to fall in love with this child, only for her to have that bitch snatch it away when she realizes that his life is still full of the same danger that it had a few years ago. She couldn't handle it then, and she can't handle it now. I'm just going to make sure she doesn't have a chance to sink her claws into him again," the obnoxious woman vowed vehemently.

"I'm just warning you, Carly. I don't think you want to get in the middle of this one. I think that if you truly are Jason's 'best friend', like you always claim you are, you will just stand beside Jason and support whatever decision that he makes. Even if you don't like it, or don't agree with it. It's what he does for you," the quiet Aussie replied. "You know what, you do what you want to do. You are going to anyway. Just don't hurt Elizabeth or her children, okay?"

Turning around, Jax left Carly's office and decided to head home. He didn't think he'd be able to concentrate. He was too angry at his soon-to-be wife. He knew she wouldn't leave well enough alone. He really wished she would put half as much energy into their relationship as she does with Jason and whatever was going on in Jason's life.


	24. Chapter 24

_**A/N: OK, I know you all are anxiously awaiting the showdown between Elizabeth and Lucky. I promise it's coming up in the next chapter! I am so completely stoked about the eye-sex going on between Jason and Elizabeth on the show. BAM! They've still got it. Take that Jaskank! {stepping down of soapbox now}**_

**Chapter Twenty-Four**

Elizabeth has been dreading this day; she knows in her heart that telling Lucky is the right thing to do. She just can't help but worry about all the things that could go wrong. Picking up the phone, she calls her best friend. Emily had thought it would be a good idea for her to come out to Spoon Island and tell Lucky there. Her reasoning was that with her and Nic there, they could be a buffer between Lucky and Elizabeth, in case he gets too angry.

"Hey, Elizabeth, what's going on?"

"I'm nervous about today. What if this sends Lucky spiraling back to drugs? That's not fair to him or to his baby."

"Uh, uh. What's not fair is to let Lucky keep believing in a lie. You let Nicholas and me worry about keeping him in check. He's got his whole family here. Let them step in and deal with him for a change."

Elizabeth couldn't believe how supportive Emily was being. "It's not your job to take on my problems. Lucky is my problem, and I need to deal with him."

Seeing how easily Elizabeth could cave to Lucky's pressure, she says, "No way. Lucky is not your problem. You know that I love you, and I've been a big supporter of you and Lucky being together over the years. Honestly though, I think the time of Lucky and Liz is history. You told me yourself that you aren't in love with him anymore. Really, you need to shake this sense of obligation to him. I think that debt, if you can really call it that, has been well repaid. Over and over _and_ over again. You and Lucky are just….well, toxic together now. All you do is hurt each other, it's time to let go and move on. Be happy."

Completely stunned, Elizabeth didn't know what to say.

"Hello…..Elizabeth? Are you still there?"

"Yeah, I'm still here. Wow, I just had no idea that you felt this way."

"Seriously, you need to tell him. And I think that Nic and I should be there for both of you when that happens. And, as much as I think that Jason has a right to be there when you tell him, I agree with what you said the other day. I think it would only make things worse once he figures out where the conversation is heading."

Taking a deep breath, "Okay, you're right. I do still love Lucky and I just care about what happens to him."

"I know. Just remember you can't control him and you can't fix him."

"I'll try. I'll see you later then."

Hanging up, she finds that she still can't relax. Grabbing the baby monitor, she walks across the hall to the other penthouse, hoping that Jason doesn't have any visitors. So far, he'd been lucky, no one had realized that he hadn't left town to go riding. And the handful of times when Carly _had_ come by, he had been across the hall with her. Like he said, he was hiding in plain sight. Knocking on the door, she stood back and waited for him to answer.

Opening the door, he took one look at Elizabeth and realized that she was having a bad day. Beckoning her inside, he saw the baby monitor in her hand. He set it down and quickly gathered her up in his arms. He knew that she was going to tell Spencer the truth about the baby later that day. He just really hopes she doesn't back out. He didn't want to have to tell her that he wasn't going to allow everyone to believe his son was Lucky's, not this time.

Holding onto Jason for a few minutes, Elizabeth begins to relax. She can feel how tense he is and figures that he is afraid that she won't be able to tell the truth. But, she's not going to do that, not to Lucky, but more importantly, not to him. Gasping, she realized where her thoughts had taken her. She just admitted it, to herself, that Jason's feelings were more important to her than Lucky's.

"Lizabeth? What's wrong?" the father-to-be asks, quietly.

Pulling back slightly, but not out of his embrace, she looks up at him. "I was just thinking that while I'm nervous about talking to Lucky today, it's more important to me that I tell the truth because of you, not him."

Stunned by her admission, he looks down at her, "I'm kinda surprised to hear you say that."

"Because up until now, I've always put him ahead of you?" she says, making it more of a statement than a question.

"No, I've always known how much you love Lucky, how much you would do for him," he tells her honestly. "More that you would admit it to me. I've always known that you care about me, though."

"Well, you've been doing a pretty good job of putting yourself out there these last few days. I guess I just thought I should return the favor," she tells him, smiling slightly.

"That's true, but I realized that nothing can, or ever would, change between us unless one of us started opening up. I can't change what happened in the past," he thinks, ironically. "But, I can try to change what happens from here on out. I figured that a first step would be telling you how I feel and see if that gets me anywhere."

Chuckling at him, "Well, we did open up to each other a few months ago, and," glancing down to her baby bump, "it seems to have worked out rather well, at least for this little one here."

Sliding his hand around to caress their child, "Yeah, I would say it did. You know, these last few days, I feel like everything is clearer, sharper, more in focus than it was before I got shot. I don't feel muddled like I did before that day."

"I guess after today, we're not going to be able to hide anymore, are we?"

"Probably not."

"What are we going to do? You do realize the whole town is going to go ape-shit when they find out that we slept together and that this baby is yours."

"Not to mention the small fact, that you are still divorcing Lucky and I'm not together with Sam."

"You know, I still haven't ever figured out why the whole world seems to fall apart at the thought of us in a relationship. It's like the whole town turns against us. I mean, a few people, I get that they have a vested interest in us not being together, for whatever reasons. But, it's like the world is going to succumb to annihilation, disaster and pestilence – it's crazy!"

"I don't know, but if I ever figure it out, I'll be sure to let you know."

Suddenly somber, Elizabeth looks up at Jason, "Are we doing the right thing?"

"For who? For them? No. For us? Yes."

"Just keep telling me that, will you?"

"Absolutely!" he agrees. Lowering his head, he captures her lips in a kiss, only to be interrupted by Cam's babbling through the baby monitor.

"Duty calls. Thank you."

"I didn't do anything."

"And you always say that," she tells him as she turns to pick up the baby monitor to go get her son up from his nap. Leaning up, she kissed him, once again, before walking to the penthouse next door.

Jason smiles as he watches his love saunter across the hall. Things are going much better in this timeline, thanks to them opening up and really talking about their feelings. The blond closes the door and goes back to work, thanking the heavens that he has been granted this second chance. He knows that they will get it right.


	25. Chapter 25

_**A/N: Dun, dun, dun…..the chapter you've all been waiting for (and I hope you are)! The confrontation between Elizabeth and Luckless! Hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it!**_

**Chapter Twenty-Five **

Emily rode over on the launch from Spoon Island to pick Elizabeth up for the meeting with Lucky. Truth be told, for as much confidence as she has tried to instill in her best friend, she was quite uncertain as to how Lucky would truly react. She remembers Elizabeth telling her how angry he had been when he found out the night of the Black & White ball, but she honestly isn't sure he won't be just as angry now. There has always been a certain amount of entitlement that Lucky projected when it came to Elizabeth, as if he had ownership rights, especially when it came to her brother. Ever since he came back from the "dead", he has never been quite the same. She doesn't blame him for that, but he's never really tried to overcome it. He was never able to get back to that guy that they all knew before his imprisonment. Emily just knew that she couldn't let her best friend face off against her oldest friend alone. To do that, she feels, would have disastrous results. Mainly because if Lucky _did_ try to harm Elizabeth, she knows her brother would kill him, no questions asked. Looking back on things, she had known even then that Jason and Elizabeth have always had something special. Up until the break-up of Lucky and Elizabeth's second marriage, she had always chosen to ignore it or to push them away from each other. No matter how far apart they got, they always seemed to gravitate back into each other's orbits, and they always came back strong. She had a lot to make up to her best friend, even if said best friend didn't know it, and would never remember it.

Shaking herself out of her thoughts as the launch docked at the piers, Emily smiles at Elizabeth, who is waiting for the launch, ringing her hands together. "Hey! I was hoping that I wouldn't have to hunt you down because you changed your mind."

"Em, as nervous as I am, I realized that I have to do this, for everyone's sake."

"It's going to be okay, Liz," the brunette replied brightly.

Arching an eyebrow, "Now that sounded completely convincing."

"Look, Lucky hasn't gotten to Wyndamere yet. Nic is waiting for us, and we'll have a few minutes to chat before he shows up. Let's get going, okay?"

Climbing onto the launch, Elizabeth looks around briefly, "Okay, let's go and get this over with."

"That's the spirit!"

"Oh, Emily, what would I do without you?" the blue eyed mother-to-be asks her best friend.

"Let's hope you never have to find out, shall we?" Emily responds, meaning it more than she can wish for.

Catching the tone of voice, "Em? Are you alright? You're okay, aren't you?"

"Yes, absolutely perfect."

"You'd tell me, wouldn't you?"

"Of course I would. Okay, no more about me. I'm just fine. I promise."

Getting to Spoon Island, they take the stairs up to the castle. Going into the parlor, Nicholas Cassadine greets the women with a hug for Elizabeth and a kiss and hug for Emily. "Liz, I'm glad you made it. I know this is difficult for you, just remember that Emily and I are here for you, alright?"

Nodding tightly, "Thank you. I'm just ready to be done with this and accept whatever Lucky has to say to me for lying to him."

Turning and looking at the nervous woman, "Don't you forget about everything that he has put you through this last year. He's my brother, and I love him, but he was in the wrong to do all that he did to you. And being a drug addict doesn't excuse his behavior."

"I know, but I didn't have to choose to cover up my night with Jason. And, I didn't have to choose to not tell the truth from the moment I got the results of the paternity test, either. _That_ all lies on me."

"And you had me, Nicholas and all of the Spencers telling you that it was your job to put your life on hold and fix Lucky," repeating her words from her grandmother's garden.

A strong sense of déjà vu hit Elizabeth hard, but she couldn't recall when she had heard those words before. Looking at Emily quizzically, she shakes her head, "Why do I feel like you've said that to me before?"

Feigning surprise, and forgetting that while Elizabeth wouldn't remember her time in the garden, she would know things without knowing them, "I don't know, maybe you dreamed it or something?"

"Yeah, maybe."

Alfred, Nic's butler, came in carrying a silver tray with tea and sandwiches. "Shall I set this up on the coffee table, sir?"

"Yes, Alfred, that would be fine, thank you."

Sitting down and sipping some tea helped to calm Elizabeth's nerves. The conversation ebbed and flowed around inconsequential things, which also helped to soothe her frazzled feelings. They had been talking for about 30 minutes when Lucky finally arrived. "Hey Nic. What's going on?"

"Lucky, come on in. We were just chatting while we were waiting for you to get here. How are you doing?"

Sensing the uncomfortable undercurrent of the occupants of the room, Lucky hesitated. Looking around at the three people gathered in the room, he was sure this wasn't a social call. "I'm fine, dealing with it. I know I've got a long road ahead of me. But I have everything in the world to fight for and to look forward to," he says, looking directly at his wife.

Looking down at her feet, Elizabeth quietly says, "Lucky, there's something I need to talk to you about."

"What do you need to tell me, Elizabeth?" he asks, quite reluctantly.

Taking a deep breath, she focuses on what she needs to tell him, and why. "Lucky…oh God, this is harder than I thought it would be."

Realizing that he definitely wasn't going to like what his wife was going to tell him, "Just tell me," he says harshly.

"Okay," she starts, "here goes. The night of the blackout, when I came home and found you having sex with Maxie, in my bed, I didn't know what to do. I walked away, and I just kept walking. I couldn't go back to Grams' house, because she expected me to try to work things out with you. After what I had seen, I knew that wasn't going to be possible, so I went to a friends' house. We talked, we had a couple shots of tequila, and we talked some more. That night, my friend had also seen the person they care about sleeping with someone else. I ended up spending the night, but…" she tries to finish. Tears filling her eyes, she forces herself to finish the story, "but, I didn't just sleep alone. We ended up sleeping together."

Red, blinding fury filled her husband's eyes, "You mean that you have tortured me for months about sleeping with Maxie, when all along you knew that you had _fucked_ another man while we were married. You made me feel so guilty, so fucking worthless." He stood up and started towards the crying brunette.

Nic jumped up and held Lucky back. "Lucky, brother, you need to calm down."

"Calm down," he yelled. "Calm down! I want to know who you fucked behind my back! Was it Patrick? Are you _finally_ admitting to running to Patrick, again?" he demanded.

"Lucky, I told you. I never slept with Patrick. I don't know why you continue to think that I feel anything more for Patrick than just simple friendship."

"Then who goddammit? Who the fuck did you sleep with?" he screamed.

"I went to Jason's that night," was all she said.

Knocking his brother to the floor in a fit of rage, Lucky made his way over to Elizabeth. Grabbing her by the arms and shaking her, "You fucking _slut_! You goddamn _whore_! How in the hell could you fuck that murdering _bastard_?"

"Stop it, Lucky. You're hurting me!" she cried, as she tried to pull out of Lucky's bruising hold.

"Answer me you bitch! How could you fuck him? Jason _fucking_ Morgan, of all people?" Raising his fist back, he suddenly found himself on the floor.

"Back off Lucky!" his brother yelled. "I get that you are angry and hurt, but you are hurting her! You were going to hit her! I won't allow it!"

Picking himself up off the floor, he turns his heated gaze back on his wife, "Is this his _bastard_? Were you just going to keep quiet and let me raise another one of your _bastards_? Only this time you were going let me keep believing that it was mine?"

"Lucky! That's _enough_!" Emily demanded. "How _dare_ you call Cameron that? He is a sweet, innocent little boy!"

Tears now streaming down her face, she couldn't believe what Lucky had said about her beautiful little boy. Finally coming to terms with her not-soon-enough-to-be ex-husband, Elizabeth turned on him, "Yes, Lucky, this baby is Jason's. And thank God for that! I cannot believe that I, even for a second, thought that having you raise _my_ child was a good idea. At least now I know the truth, my children are only good enough until you can get that 'Spencer heir' you are so desperately hoping for. I can understand your anger towards me, but say such horrible things about innocent children, that's just fucking uncalled for. Well, don't worry, you won't have to deal with continuing to raise my," getting choked on the word, "bastard son, ever again. You stay away from him! _Do you hear me_? I don't want you _anywhere_ near my little boy!"

Storming out of the parlor, Lucky hightailed it out of Wyndamere and out to the launch. He couldn't leave quick enough. Rage was coursing through his body. 'How _dare_ she fuck Jason!' he thought.


	26. Chapter 26

_**A/N: Sorry for the long time between posts….. the muse is being a bit of a reluctant B. That, and I'm currently reading the Fifty Shades trilogy. Without further ado….**_

**Chapter Twenty-Six**

As soon as Lucky walked out of the room, Elizabeth wilted to the floor in hysterical tears. She couldn't believe how badly that went. She also realized how much worse it would have been if Nicholas and Emily hadn't been there. She was inconsolable.

Emily thought about calling her brother, but decided that she didn't want to take the chance of him running into Lucky while Lucky was still so pissed. Wrapping her arms around her best friend, she murmured soothing sounds while her friend cried.

Jason was standing on the docks waiting for the launch from Spoon Island to arrive. He was anxious about what was going on with Elizabeth and Lucky. He vaguely saw the launch approaching, but was too distracted by his own thoughts to pay it much attention. He had an unsettling feeling in his gut that things weren't going to go well. Seeing the boat dock, he moved forward automatically only to be caught by the fist flying into his face. He stumbled backwards seeing that it was Lucky that hit him, he knew that the other man obviously knew about his and Elizabeth's night together. Understanding the other man's anger, he allowed this one hit to go unreturned. "Lucky…" he started to say.

"Stay the hell away from me Morgan, or I swear to God, I will kill you!" shouted the unreasonable man. He had hated this man since his return from captivity and seen how close Jason and Elizabeth had become in his time away. "I fucking apologized to you for trying to set you up! And you didn't have the balls to tell me that you fucked my wife!"

Trying to reason with his long ago friend, Jason said to him, "Look, I know you're pissed. You have every right to be. We should have told you. But Elizabeth was already scared because you were using then, and she didn't want to give you a reason to go back to using."

"Oh, so I'm supposed to forgive her, because she was trying to protect her pathetic, loser husband?" he sneered.

"No. I'm just trying to get you to see where she was coming from when she asked me not to tell you," the older man explained.

"Yeah, well, fuck both of you!" he yelled and stormed off. Even through his anger, he knew that Jason wouldn't allow him to just beat the hell out of him, like he wanted to.

Jason stared after Lucky for a few moments before anxiously boarding the launch that would take him to Elizabeth. He needed to see if she was alright. He was worried that if Lucky had gotten that physical with him, there was no telling what he might have done to her. Lucky had better pray that he didn't lay a hand on Elizabeth, or else nothing would stop him from giving him the beat down he deserved.

Elizabeth was still on the floor, with Emily's arms wrapped around her, when Jason walked into the room. Emily started apologizing as her brother made a beeline to the woman he so obviously loved. Waving his sister's apologies off, Jason crouched down beside the mother of his child, "Lizabeth?"

Barely raising her head, she launched herself into Jason's arms, rocking him back on his heels a bit. Settling her more firmly in his embrace, he picked her up and carried her to the couch. Sitting down with her in his lap, he proceeded to rub one hand up and down her back, while cradling her cheek with the other. Whispering words to her, her sobs begin to lessen after several minutes, slowly dying down to sniffles.

Burying her face in the crook of his neck, she began to brokenly tell him what had happened during the argument with Lucky. Jason managed to reign in his temper, she didn't need his anger. She needed him to comfort her. He could get angry later. He'd been doing a good job, until she got to the part with him calling his children bastards.

Elizabeth purposefully left out the part where Lucky grabbed her and would have hit her if Nic hadn't stepped in. She was hoping that neither Emily nor Nicholas would mention it, either. Wiping the tears from her face, she looks up at Jason and sees the large bruise beginning to form on his jaw. "Oh my God! Jason, what happened?"

Confused, it took him a minute to remember the sucker punch that Lucky had thrown getting off the launch. Glad that he didn't know what had already happened, he knows that his temper would have prompted him to give Lucky the beating of his life. "Lucky caught me off-guard when he was getting off the launch."

"How bad does he look?"

"What?"

"Well, he obviously got in one punch, how many did you get?"

"Oh, none. I figured after what he just found out, he deserved that one. Of course, I didn't know what had happened here, or that really wouldn't have mattered to me."

Raising one perfect eyebrow, she looked at him, "Why?"

"Because what he said about you, Cameron and our baby was uncalled for. He shouldn't have said that. I don't care how angry he was, to call you and the kids names was unnecessary. I wouldn't have been able to let that go."

Nicholas came back in with an ice pack for Jason's face, "I'm just sorry I couldn't get to my brother in time from grabbing her, it all happened so fast. I'm just glad I was able to stop him from hitting her."

If Elizabeth hadn't tightened her hold on him, he would have jumped up to chase after him. Looking at her, "When were you planning on telling me about that?"

"Later, after you had calmed down a bit."

Reading her face and looking into her eyes, he can see that she is telling the truth. "Did he hurt you? Did he leave a mark on you?" he asked ferociously. He was ready to track Luckless _fucking_ Spencer down and put a bullet in between his eyes!

"Honestly, I don't know, I haven't really had time to look. My arms are a bit sore, but that's all. I'm just glad he didn't push me or knock me down. I was more worried about him letting me go too quickly and that I would fall."

"Jase, maybe you should take Elizabeth home. It would probably help to see Cameron," his sister told him.

"Where is Cam?" Elizabeth suddenly panicked.

"Cam is fine. He's at home. I called Georgie and asked if she could come and watch him for a little while. She was happy to spend some time with him."

"Can we go? I just really want to hold my little boy right now."

"Sure," Jason said as he stood up with her still in his arms. Saying goodbye to Emily and Nicholas, he walked out of the room and towards the exit.

"Jason, you can put me down. I can walk just fine on my own."

"Humor me, please? Just until we get to the launch, okay?"

"Fine," she relented, realizing that he needed to do this more for himself as opposed to thinking that she wouldn't or couldn't walk on her own.


	27. Chapter 27

_**A/N: Sorry for the long delay everyone. The muse and I are having a difference of opinion, and she's just NOT cooperating with me! One of these days…. LOL!**_

**Chapter Twenty-Seven**

After Jason got Elizabeth home, they thanked Georgie and Jason gave her a generous fee for coming over on such short notice. Elizabeth spent several minutes cuddling Cameron close to her, until he began to squirm to get down and go play. Reluctantly, she let him go and again shed a few tears for the horrible things that Lucky had said about him. She knew she had done the right thing by telling Lucky the truth, she just wished the price to her babies hadn't been so steep.

Sitting down beside her, Jason draped an arm around her shoulder and nudged her closer to him. "Are you gonna be alright?"

Nodding silently, she tried to scrape her thoughts into coherent words so she could tell Jason how glad she is that he is there with her. "I don't know what I would have done if Emily and Nicholas hadn't been there today. I'm really glad Em talked me into telling him at Wyndamere. It could have been so much worse if I would have told him alone. I honestly didn't think he would get physical. I'm glad you came and got me because I really needed you. Thank you."

"You hadn't been gone too long when the wait was killing me. I called Georgie and asked her if she had some time free to watch Cameron. As soon as she got here, I ran over to the docks, and well, you know the rest."

"You know, what really hurts are the things that he said about Cam. I honestly thought he loved him like a father should, but I was wrong. He proved that he was only biding his time until a Spencer baby came along. I can't imagine what would have happened to my little boy if I hadn't told the truth. How much attention would he have gotten once this baby was born? I told Lucky not to worry about playing father to Cam. I told him he would never get to see him again."

"I totally understand. You don't want that kind of anger taken out on your little boy."

"Cam's been so happy these last few days. He's really been soaking up all the attention you've been giving him," she paused to collect her thoughts. "If we're going to try to make a go at being together, do you think…"

Jason silenced her with a finger to her lips, "Do. Or do not. There is no try. And that is my only pop culture reference. Michael made me watch a marathon of those 'Star Jedi' movies. I really liked that line from the little green dude."

Smiling up at him, she shook her head, "It's _Star Wars_, Jason. And that little green dude is Yoda, the oldest Jedi master."

"Yeah, okay, whatever. That line just struck a chord with me. Seriously though, we aren't going to try at a relationship, we're going to do it, live it. And no, it doesn't matter to me who Cam's father is. He is a special little boy that I already love, I told you that. And, it's not going to change when the new baby gets here."

"I don't know what I was thinking. You have this amazing capacity to love children, it was a stupid thought that I should never even dreamed of voicing."

"It's understandable, considering what the man he calls daddy just said about him. It would make anyone wonder."

"Yeah, but I know you better than that. I know how much you love Michael, that you were raising him as your own. It didn't matter to you that he was your brother's baby. You still think of him as your son. And you were going to raise Sam's baby as your own. I saw how you grieved when that little girl died. It was heartbreaking to see it. It was stupid of me to even think it for a second."

"Hey! No calling the woman I love stupid!" he said, shocking them both.

Eyes wide, she felt a few more tears leak out. Jason reached up to wipe them away, "Are you okay with that?"

"Yes, yes I am. I guess I'm just not used to hearing you say it, that's all," she told him. "I told you back in August that I fell in love with you all those years ago, I just didn't tell you that it never went away. I don't think I've told you that during the time that we've been spending together recently, either."

"I have to admit that it's nice to know I'm not the only one putting myself out there."

"You were right about being open with each other. We can't change the way we handled things in our past, but if we're gonna make it, we have to be open and honest with each other going forward. And I know that there will be business things that you can't tell me. But, you've put yourself out there several times, now I need to start doing it more, too. I just want us to continue to talk about the personal stuff. I mean, if you want to talk about the business stuff, too, I'm okay with that. I just know that you're really tight-lipped about that stuff," she paused.

"Breathe Elizabeth. You're right, there will be some stuff that I can't tell you. Not because I don't trust you, but because I don't want you to have to keep my secrets. It would be too dangerous for you to know too much. But I promise you that I will never keep anything from you that will affect our lives, our home together. Can you live with that?"

Taking the time to consider Jason's words, she didn't rush to an easy answer, because she wanted to think about it and be honest with her feelings. He waited patiently, letting her absorb everything he had told her.

"As long as you don't outright lie to me, or lie by omission, about something concerning our family, then yes, I can live with that."

"You're referring to Sonny's 'death' a few years ago, aren't you?"

"Yes. You know it wasn't as much the fact that you kept me in the dark, it was the fact that you didn't even tell me that there was something that you couldn't tell me. You just avoided me and made me worry night after night, wondering if you were going to come home shot, or at all. When I found out that all you were doing was sitting in a strip club every night, looking out for Stripper Barbie, on Sonny's orders, that's what hurt the most. I could have handled you being away, if you had told me that something was going on, but you couldn't share what it was. I just wanted to know that you were safe. I just wanted to know that I mattered to you. When I found out what was going on, I felt like I didn't matter at all, and that I never would. That's why I left."

"I think I can manage that. And, I am sorry for the way that I handled things back then. I promised not to lie to you, and then Sonny ordered me to do just that. I should have found a way to accomplish both, without breaking my promises to either of you. You have _always_ mattered to me, even if I sucked at showing it."

"Well, it's in the past, and we've gotten past it. I don't have to, or necessarily even want to, be all up in the business. I know that it's safer for me not to be. Speaking of safe, I'm almost out of vacation time. Epiphany was gracious enough to give me all this time off to deal with moving out of Grams' house, telling Lucky, etc. But I am going to have to get back to work, sooner rather than later."

"You know that you don't have to work, right?"

"Uh-uh, don't even start Jason. One, I actually do love nursing. And two, I am not going to be one of those women that lives off of a man. I enjoy working, and I enjoy being active."

"I know that you love your job, I just want you to know that I will support you, if you would rather just stay home and take care of our kids. I will support whatever you want to do. I would love for you to think about getting back into your art, too."

"Jase, I didn't agree to a relationship with you so that I could quit my job. Besides, didn't we say that we were going to take things slowly? My quitting work to live off your money is not what I would consider slow. I need to carry my own weight, it's important to me, no matter how much I love you."

"Can we compromise then?"

"Compromise? What is your definition of compromise?" she asks him, arching one eyebrow at him.

"Don't look at me like that. I know how to compromise. All I'm asking is that you don't work yourself into the ground. I'd like to see you stop pulling all of those double shifts that you've been working. Let me help you out, please, for the children's sakes."

"That's a low blow, Morgan, playing the children card."

Smirking at her, "Did it work?" Blue eyes looked into blue eyes, his with humor sparkling in them. "Okay," he conceded, "Can you just think about it. Please?"

"Okay, I'll think about it. I just don't know that I'm ready to accept that kind of help."


	28. Chapter 28

_**A/N: I know this is a short one, but we can't forget about the evil Carly…can we?**_

**Chapter Twenty-Eight**

The plan is almost in place. It just needs a little more tweaking and the right timing and Elizabeth will be gone from Jason's life, hopefully forever. She's doing her level best to make sure that she cannot be identified to Jason as hiring the thug. No, her job is going to be consoling Jason once the job is done. And, if she plays her cards right, she can point the finger at Sam and get rid of both women permanently.

Carly is confident that if she can scare Elizabeth enough about the dangers of Jason's life, that Elizabeth will tuck her tail between her legs and run for the hills. It's all about the tactic that's used. She knows that there is no way that goody-goody muffin face bitch will stay if she's faced with the harsh realities of the business. She's not tough enough to stick it out. Better that Jason realize that now before this baby comes and he gets attached to it.

The blonde also needed to make sure that she had a good strong alibi. As much as she doesn't want to admit it, she knows that Jason will look at everyone that doesn't like Elizabeth as suspects until he proves their innocence. That's the tricky part, having an alibi without looking like she has an alibi. If her plans for the day look too contrived or too convenient, they won't be believable. So, she needed to find something that was completely natural for her. But, what?


	29. Chapter 29

_**A/N: So, let's check in on Lucktard, the luckless wonder…..**_

_**Disclaimer – nope, still don't own any of it!**_

**Chapter Twenty-Nine**

Lucky made his way into the sleazy bar on the outskirts of town. He knew it was probably a bad idea for his recovery to be drinking, but he told himself he would only have one beer and that it would just be to take the edge off. Several hours later he was still in the bar and slumped over a table with a handful of empty bottles still on the table that the waitress hadn't cleared away. He hadn't been paying any attention to the comings and goings to the bar. He just wallowed in his own misery and anger.

Suddenly, a fresh beer was in front of him. Looking up at the gift bearer, he discovered none other than Samantha McCall. "So, I guess I don't have to ask why you are completely wasted? Elizabitch told you about the spawn she is carrying."

"What do you want, Sssssssssam?" Lucky slurred.

"You and I are in the same boat, I figured we could commiserate with one another."

"Go 'way, Sam. I jus wanna be alone."

"Oh, come on Lucky. My fiancé and your wife slept together and now have a kid on the way."

"I was under the impre….the impr….I thought you and Jason broke up, so esscuse me for thinking it's not the ssssame thing."

"And where were you when your wife was screwing my fiancé…, oh that's right, you were in bed fucking Maxie Jones, huh?"

"Oh, like you were rollin' round your mama's livin' room floor with her husssban."

"I see bad news does travel fast."

"Whatever. Jus leave me alone Sam. I'm not in the mood to talk about my bitch wife and her bastard children."

"So don't talk, just drink."

A handful of hours later, Lucky was beyond drunk and Sam had been doing her level best to catch up with him, out drinking him in the last hour. Sam notices that Lucky's attitude has shifted from pure anger and rage to melancholy. "You know what really pisses me off?" Sam asked.

"Like I care," he said, despondently.

"I put everything into that relationship and I got nothing back. I just…I can't believe that one night with Elizabeth would be more important than the three years Jason spent with me."

Perking up a bit, mainly out of curiosity, "Do you really think that it was only one night?"

"I don't know, Lucky. I don't know. Does it really matter? I mean that's…it's…Jason was emotionally unfaithful, that's what destroyed our relationship."

Realizing that they really were in the same place with their respective relationships, Lucky sighed and said, "I'm sorry, Sam. I…."

Chuckling mirthlessly, "You are the only one, because Sonny and Carly and everyone else, they are cheering. Couldn't wait to get in line to make me the bad guy."

Getting angry again, "Why does everybody believe that Jason can do no wrong?"

Hanging her head, as if in shame, "I know, I used to do the same thing. I would make excuses for him and jump to his rescue, but," she pauses for effect. "You know, I don't mean to sound like the victim here. I just really feel like I've been played for a fool."

Understanding and agreeing with Sam's statement, "Yeah, I know exactly what you mean. You know, maybe I was just a fool to think that her and I could start over again after what's happened this year."

"Well, look, hey, if that's true than I am the same kind of fool for trying with Jason. I want so badly to regain my place in his heart, when clearly he is involved with Elizabeth. You know, I've been feeling so guilty these past couple of months, knowing what happened between Jason and Elizabeth that night. I'm so sorry that I agreed to not say anything about them screwing back in August. There were so many times that I actually wanted to tell you. Now, seeing you like this, after you worked so hard on your recovery, I wish I would have."

Not really believing her, yet strangely believing her, "Come on Sam, the only reason you could have had for wanting to tell me, would be to try and hurt Elizabeth, and by extension, Jason. Drunk or not, do really think I'm that big of a fool? The only reason you haven't told me is because you thought the baby was mine, and it wouldn't help your cause of getting Jason back."

"Well, you are right in some way, my own selfishness played a part in it."

"Really? How so?"

"If I told you, I figured you would probably leave Elizabeth. And, well, if you left her, then I thought that that would be an easy opening for her to pursue Jason. Then they would be together, and I would still be left out in the cold. I was really just protecting my own screwed up relationship."

"You know what? Why don't we get out of here?"

"I thought you would never ask," she says, smiling at him.


	30. Chapter 30

_**A/N: Sorry for the long delay, I've been dealing with massive migraines for the past month and the muse has been hiding in the corner – not that I blame her, I wanted as far away from me as I could get, too! The wonderful doc at the ER was finally able to give me something to make them go away (well, at least for the last 2 days). So, I'm hoping to coax the muse out of hiding and jump back into the story…..**_

_**Hoping and praying for a Liason reunion before Steve's now inevitable exit. Soooooooo sad to see him go, but wish him the best of luck. I will miss you, Steve!**_

**Chapter Thirty**

Knocking on the door to the living room/study, Max waits for permission from Sonny to enter. Hearing Sonny's okay, the senior bodyguard prepares to give his boss the update he just got from one of the tails.

"Max, what have you got for me?"

"Well boss, Paulie just called and told me that Sam has been chatting Lucky up at the River Rat Bar, just outside of town. He said they drank and talked for a few hours before getting up and leaving together. Unfortunately, he couldn't get close enough to hear what they were saying. He's still following them and will report back whenever they get where they're going."

"Good work. Tell Paulie to keep an eye on them. Simon will meet him wherever they are in a couple of hours. Make sure Paulie calls in and gives you any other updates, then tell him to head home and get some sleep. He'll have to relieve Simon in 10 hours."

"Got it boss."

"Oh, and Max, call the new guy, Carter, to relieve Mick of watching Carly. We have to make sure that we only use guys that neither Carly nor Sam have seen before. Bring it to me, and I'll sign off on it. I know that Jason usually handles the guard rotations, but I don't want him in on this just yet. Let me know if any conflicts come up in the rotations that Jason set up, so I can talk to him about it. I'll try to figure out what to tell him if that happens."

"Sure. Anything else, boss?"

"No, that's it for now. Go ahead and get to work on that."

Max nods and heads out to start on his assignments. Sitting down behind his desk, Sonny gazes around the room thinking about his conversation with Carly. Wondering what she meant by the fact that she had gotten Elizabeth out of Jason's life before, he tries to recall the last time the two of them were close. Being a selfish man by nature, he finds it difficult to recall the events of the younger man's life. Not used to thinking much on the things going on in other peoples' lives, he wonders just how good of a friend he's actually been to his enforcer. Glancing at the clock and realizing that two hours have passed, he is slightly ashamed to admit just how self-involved he truly is since he cannot remember the details of Jason's life.

Setting aside his thoughts on what the couple has been to each other, he vows to find out more about what happened the last time they were together and how they broke up. Returning to the paperwork that needed his attention, Sonny gets back to work on the business.


	31. Chapter 31

_**A/N: So, for keeping you all waiting for so long, here is the 2**__**nd**__** of 2 chapters that are ready for you! Enjoy!**_

**Chapter Thirty-One**

Jason and Elizabeth had spent their last free day together, with Cameron. They had taken the toddler to the park to play on the swings and in the sandbox for a couple of hours. Today, though, Elizabeth had had to go back to work, and Jason missed her fiercely already. Jason had offered to keep Cameron home with him while she was at work, but since the boy hadn't been to daycare in several days, he was missing his friends. He promised Jason that he would stay home with him another day. The blond called his sister and found out that she wasn't on shift that day. He asked her to come over so they could talk privately about their shared memories of the previous lifetime. Since she wasn't due for about another hour or two, Jason called Elizabeth, "Hey, it's me."

"Hey! What's up?"

"Is this a bad time?"

"No, is everything okay? Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, I called to see if you were getting a break soon."

"Um, yeah, in about 30 minutes. Jason, are you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah, I just wanted to see if I could take you to Kelly's for a quick bite to eat and some hot chocolate."

"Mmmmmmm. That sounds delicious, but I can't have hot chocolate right now."

"You can't? Why not, you love hot chocolate."

"I know! Regular hot chocolate has too much caffeine for the baby. I have to buy the special white hot chocolate packets to drink at home. Mike doesn't serve that. But I will take you up on the food."

Calculating the time in his head, "Okay, meet me out front and I'll swing by to pick you up."

"Okay, see you in a few." Elizabeth hangs up the phone. She cannot stop smiling.

A brusque voice pipes up behind her and asks, "Are you gonna stand there and smile all day, or are you going to work before your break with Jason? I've got patients that need to be seen, so get a move on."

Still smiling, the pregnant nurse bops off, "Sure thing, Epiphany. I'm on it!"

Muttering to herself, "Thank God that woman got her head on straight and told that man he was her baby's father! I was so tired of watching her suffer." Epiphany looks thoughtfully after her favorite nurse and smiles.

Thirty minutes later, Elizabeth walks out of the hospital doors and sees Jason sitting in his black Escalade watching for her. She smiles at him as he gets out of the car and walks her around to her door. Helping her in, he reaches across to the console and places a cup in her hands.

"What's this?"

"Drink it and find out. It should be cool enough that you don't burn yourself." He closes the door and gets in the driver's seat. Putting it in gear, he turns them towards Kelly's.

Taking a sip, she closes her eyes and sighs, "Jason, you didn't have to do this."

"What?" he asked. "You said you can only have the white hot chocolate, so I stopped at the coffee shop and got you one."

"I'm surprised you still made it in time."

He glances over at her with the question in his eyes.

"I figure if you stopped at the coffee shop, somebody would have had a problem that they needed you to solve, or some sort of business would have to be discussed, so you'd get pulled into a meeting," she rambled.

"Oh, I called ahead and told them to bring it out to me."

Laughing, "one of the perks of being the boss?"

"Something like that."

Pulling in and parking at the docks. Jason gets out and opens the door for Elizabeth. Helping her out of the truck, he guides her into the diner and to a table in the corner. Georgie comes over and greets them. After taking their order, she leaves so they can talk in semi-privacy. Jason questions Elizabeth about her first day back, then they chat about other things until Georgie brings their food back with an enthusiastic, "Enjoy!"

They had eaten their lunch, chatting about inconsequential things, just reveling in each other's company until Elizabeth realized that her break was almost over. She knew Jason would have enough time to get her back to the hospital, then head home to meet his sister. They were heading for the door when Jason cries out and falls to the floor unconscious. Looking around panicked, she saw Lucky with a bloody baseball bat hanging in his hands and a smirk on his face. She fell to the floor beside Jason, screaming at her almost ex-husband," Are you fucking crazy? What the hell, Lucky?"

Raising the bat to take another swing, he is suddenly taken down by one of Jason's men, Francis. The bodyguard had thrown himself at Lucky and pinned him to the ground so he couldn't harm anyone else.

Holding Jason's bloody head in her lap, she grabs her cell phone to call 9-1-1. Explaining to the operator what had happened, she listened as the woman on the other end of the line dispatched the police and an ambulance. Jason still hadn't woken up by the time the paramedics arrived. The cops had taken Lucky into custody and Elizabeth promised to come and give her statement later. Francis agreed to go to the station and give a statement, since the incident was not related to the business.

Arriving at the hospital in the ambulance, Elizabeth jumps out and runs into the ER with the paramedics, following them into the cubicle. She helped to give Dr. Patrick Drake all of Jason's current stats, along with a summary of what had happened. Concerned about the fact that Morgan hadn't woken up, Patrick order an MRI to see if Jason had any swelling of the brain. He also added a battery of other tests including blood panels and gases, etc.

Epiphany told the nurse not to worry about finishing the rest of her shift, as she assumed that the pregnant woman wouldn't want to leave the enforcer's side. Elizabeth thanked the head nurse and hurried after the orderlies who were rolling Jason to the MRI. She was so scared seeing him lying so still on the gurney, it wasn't like him to be this still in a hospital.

Once the MRI tests ordered for Jason were complete, the orderlies and Elizabeth moved Jason into a private room. The orderlies left and the nurse flitted around trying to make him comfortable. Meanwhile, Patrick consulted with Robin as the test results for the MRI and blood work started coming in. Robin was looking over the blood work results and was having trouble figuring out why there were trace amounts of scopolamine in his system. "Patrick?" the young doctor asked her partner, "Do you see anything in Jason's file about him being given scopolamine or anything with that in it?"

"What?!" the neurosurgeon asked, quite alarmed. Quickly scanning the file, he finds no record of the drug ever being administered to the patient in question. "No, there's nothing in here about it. Why? What's going on, Robin?"

"The blood panel that I'm going over is showing trace amounts of it in his system. I can't think of anyone less inclined to take medicine than Jason, let alone him agreeing to take anything like this. Even if he does have trouble sleeping, I don't think he'd ask for anything to take for it. That's the only thing I can think of that he might need it for."

"I wonder how long he's been taking it?"

"I don't know. I guess it depends on whether or not he was taking by choice or not."

Looking quizzically at Robin, "What do you mean?"

"Just what I said, I don't see Jason taking something like this for any reason. It makes me wonder if he knows he's been taking it or not. I'm going to ask Elizabeth if she's seen him taking anything." Walking down the corridor, she steps into the room with the nurse and her friend. "Elizabeth, can I ask you a question?"

Startled, she hadn't heard the woman enter the room, "Oh, Robin, sorry I was lost in thought. What did you want to know?"

Not sure how to approach the subject, she asked, "Um, I need to know if you've seen Jason taking any pills or liquid medicine recently."

Thinking about it for a minute, she shakes her head, "Nothing except for the antibiotic and pain reliever I brought him when he was shot just before Thanksgiving. But I don't think he's taken either of those in at least a couple of weeks. Why?"

"Because we found trace amounts of scopolamine in his blood work."

The nurse was immediately alarmed, "What! Jason would never take something like that! There's got to be some sort of mistake, a mix-up in the lab or something."

"No, I ran the test twice, myself, and came back with the same results. Let's just hope he wakes up soon and we can ask him, okay?"

"Robin, is he going to be alright?"

"Jason's strong and resilient, I'm sure he's going to be just fine. Patrick should be in shortly with the results of his MRI."

"Okay, who do I have to call that Patrick can tell them to?"

"No one. Jason has you listed in his medical file as one of the people to speak to. He has you listed as his Power of Attorney, in the event that anything happens to him and he cannot make his own medical decisions." With that, the shorter brunette walked back out of the room to finish looking over Jason's test results.

Stunned, Elizabeth just sat beside Jason's bed, holding his hand and staring at him for several minutes. Unaware that she is crying, she feels Jason's hand gripping hers a little. Gasping, she looks up and sees his eyes open. "Oh my God, Jason! You're awake!"

"Wha…." he starts. "What happened? Why are you crying?"

Getting up to get him some ice chips, she spoons a few into his mouth. "You don't remember?" Slowly shaking his head no, Elizabeth continues, "Lucky snuck up on you and hit you in the head with a baseball bat. I think you were unconscious before you hit the ground."

Struggling to get up, Elizabeth pushes him back to the bed, "No way mister! You've got, at the very least, a concussion. Lay back down."

"Are you okay? Did he hurt you?"

"I'm fine. Francis knocked him down before he could do anything else. I called 9-1-1, the police and the ambulance showed up. Lucky's been arrested."

"When can I get out of here?"

"Well, I can't say I didn't see that one coming. But, I would guess, tomorrow, at the earliest. They're gonna want to keep you overnight for observation, I'm sure. I'm going to go find Patrick and Robin and let them know you're awake." Nodding his ascent, Jason closed his eyes after watching her leave his hospital room.


	32. Chapter 32

_**Disclaimer: I still don't own these characters, the show, the setting or the original storyline. I'm still playing with the characters, but I promise to put them back when I'm done! Please don't sue me, I don't have any money, so I can't pay! This is all for the fun and enjoyment of us fans!**_

_**Read and review, please! I really do enjoy reading what you have to say!**_

**Chapter Thirty-Two**

Patrick and Robin follow Elizabeth back into Jason's hospital room. Elizabeth walks over to one side of the bed while the two doctors stand on the other. Leaning down, the nurse speaks softly to him, getting him to wake back up. Opening his eyes, he smiles at her, then sees the others. Turning to them, he asks, "Okay, when can I get out of here?"

Robin laughs, knowing how much her former boyfriend hates being in the hospital, "You need to stay, at least for tonight, Jason. We want to keep you for observation and run some additional tests."

"You have a concussion, but we're thankful that it's not a severe one like we originally thought it might be," Patrick starts in. "However, we found something unusual in your blood work and have a couple of questions."

"Alright," the enforcer says.

"Jason, what kind of medications are you taking?" the brunette doctor asks.

Starting to shake his head, then realizing how badly it hurt, "None."

"Other than the antibiotics and pain killers that Liz brought you, have you taken anything else in the last month or two?"

Thinking for a few moments, "Occasionally some aspirin if I get a bad headache. Oh, and a vitamin, but I haven't taken that since I was shot. Why?"

"We found minute traces of a drug called scopolamine in your blood. We didn't see any record of you receiving a prescription for sleeping pills, anti-depression medication or motion sickness pills. We're not sure where the drug is coming from, how long you've been taking it, or how long you've been off of it."

"I'm assuming this is not something that is found in aspirin or vitamins? What exactly is it?"

"No, it's not found in those. Besides, what I just mentioned, in pure form, it's like a hallucinogen and can be used as a form of mind-control drug."

Shocked and confused, "How could I have something like that in my system and not know it?"

Explaining some of the research she had done since finding it in his blood panel profile, "Basically, if it's used for mind control, the person that takes it is fully functional. The drug leaves the person in a type of zombie state, in a state of compliancy, and complete open to being controlled, without remembering being told what to do afterwards."

"So you're saying that if someone gave me this drug, I wouldn't remember taking it?"

"Yes."

The ramifications were mind-blowing. Who in the hell would give him something like that?

Stepping into the conversation, Elizabeth pulls Jason away from his thoughts, "Robin and Patrick want to run some more tests to see if they can determine how long you may have been taking the drug."

"Okay…yeah, sure. I don't get it, why would someone give me something like that?" he voiced the thought out loud.

"We're not sure, the answer may also depend on if we can figure out how long you've been on it. Would you mind if Elizabeth goes and gets everything out of your medicine cabinet? I'd like to run tests on the aspirin and vitamins, just to make sure that no one has tampered with them."

"That's fine," the enforcer stated, wanting to get to the bottom of this.

"The good thing is that the drug is almost completely out of your system. So I would suggest not taking anything that you don't get directly from the hospital, and buying brand new bottles of your aspirin and vitamins, but keeping them somewhere else, making sure that no one else has access to it. Don't leave it in your medicine cabinet. If someone is adding it to your aspirin or vitamins, that's going to narrow down your list of suspects."

Turning to Jason, "I'm going to run home and get those things for Robin before I have to pick Cam up from the daycare. Emily agreed to watch him tonight for me, so I can stay here with you."

"Oh, I forgot I was supposed to meet Emily after lunch with you at Kelly's."

"I called her and told her what happened. I'm supposed to call her and let her know how you are doing. Do you want me to tell her about the scopolamine?"

"Let's wait until we know more. I don't want to worry her just yet."

"Okay. I'll be back in a little while." Kissing his cheek, she gathers her purse and leaves to get the stuff from Jason's penthouse.

_A/N: I took some creative license with the drug scopolamine. It is a hallucinogen, and does cause a zombie type state. It is also used in sleep aid, anti-depressants, motion sickness and eye drops. The Nazi's used it as a form of truth serum. It is __not__ easily detected in a person's system, as it metabolizes quickly. Apparently there is a special test that a hospital would have to run in order to find it in someone's system. However, it was the effects of the drug that was what prompted me to use this particular drug. Hint, hint: this will come up later, and is part of one of the mysteries of the story. Anyone want to take a guess where I'm leading you all? __ Read on!_


	33. Chapter 33

_**Disclaimer: Still own nothing!**_

_**Hope you enjoy!**_

**Chapter Thirty-Three**

Elizabeth arrived at Harborview Towers and walked into Jason's penthouse. Going upstairs to his bedroom, she walks into the bathroom and opens the medicine cabinet. Grabbing all of the bottles she sees, she heads back into his bedroom, glancing around to see if there is anything else that the scopolamine could have been added to. Seeing nothing, she heads to "Brenda's" bathroom. Not finding anything in there, she decides to check out the downstairs bathroom and the kitchen. In the kitchen she finds a couple of things from the GNC Store and decides to take those in, as well.

Driving back to GH, the brunette calls Emily, "Hey, it's me."

"Elizabeth!" Em exclaims. "How's Jason?"

"Patrick did an MRI and a full battery of tests. They are still waiting on some of the tests to come back before they make a final ruling that he just has a severe concussion. He'll be on bed rest for a few days, he's gonna love that," she states, sarcastically.

Chuckling with relief, "You are right about that. Just keep me posted if anything else pops up, okay? When do you want me to come and get my nephew?"

"I had to run back to the penthouse and pack a bag for him, so I'm on my way back to the hospital now. I should be there in about 15 minutes or so. So, any time after that is good."

"Okay, well Spencer just went down for his afternoon nap, so if I leave now, I can get there in about 45 minutes."

"Great! We'll see ya then."

Parking the car at the hospital, Elizabeth brings both Cam's overnight bag and the bag of items from Jason's penthouse to be tested. Worried about who could be giving Jason the drug and how, she walked right by Sam who turns around and follows the nurse. Seeing Jason laying in the hospital bed, Sam shoves the pregnant woman out of her way to go running into his room. Practically throwing herself on her ex-fiancé, she cries, "Oh my God, Jason, what's wrong? Why are you here?"

Opening his eyes, he looks around and sees Elizabeth in Francis' arms. "Francis?"

"Ms. McCall pushed Ms. Webber out of the way so that she could run in here," was all the bodyguard would say.

Exploding in anger at Sam's behavior, "What the hell is wrong with you, Sam? Elizabeth is pregnant! Why would you push her like that?"

Trying to pretend as though she didn't mean it, "I'm sorry, it's just that when I saw you in here, I got so scared that I was going to lose you!"

"That doesn't give you the right to shove someone out of the way!" he said, not believing that she was sorry. He remembers how she wanted Jake gone from the moment she knew he was Jason's. "You could have seriously injured her! Dammit Sam, get the hell out of here. I didn't ask to see you, and right now, I really don't want to," he told her angrily.

"Jayyy-siiiin," she whined. "I said I was sorry. You don't mean that. We love each other. We can work this out, I know we can!"

"And I just said that I don't want to see you right now. Just go."

Knowing she wouldn't get anywhere if she pushed him, she stomped her foot, turned around and looked accusingly at the nurse, "This is all your fault! I really hate you!" The angry brunette storms out of Jason's room.

Taking a deep breath, Jason looks at Elizabeth, "Hey, you're back."

Feeling a little awkward about what just happened, she just looked at him and nodded.

Not wanting to lose the feeling from earlier, he motions her forward, "Come on in here."

Walking slowly towards the bed, she's unsure of how to react to Sam being here, and the things she said. "I brought the stuff that Robin asked for," she says, softly.

Reaching out to grab her hand, "I'm sorry that she shoved you like that, it was uncalled for."

"You don't have to apologize for her behavior."

"Yeah, well, it's put you on edge, and I wanna know why."

"Honestly?"

"Yes honestly. We're not going to get anywhere if we start lying to each other."

Taking a deep breath, she looks down at their hands, fingers entwined. "I know that you still have feelings for her. And it's obvious that she still loves you. So, it's not a stretch of my very vivid imagination that you two can still work things out. We've only spent a couple of weeks together, so I understand if you've decided that you want to forgive her and move past it."

"Where is this coming from, Elizabeth?" he asks, very confused.

Not truly understanding why she felt the way she did, "I guess I just don't want us to get involved only for you to turn around and go back to her later. You didn't exactly tell her that you weren't getting back together, that you didn't want to make it work, I don't know, I guess I just wondered if you wouldn't rather stay with her."

"I've already told her we weren't getting back together. She will realize it sooner or later, I shouldn't have to keep beating her over the head with it."

"Jason, you told her all summer that you weren't getting back together. She's never given up, and you were heading that way, until I told you about the baby. Why do you think she would believe you now?"

"I guess I didn't think of it that way. I did tell her over and over that we were done. But, you telling me about the baby isn't why she and I aren't getting back together, it's you telling me that you love me, and the fact that I love you."

"Sam's not going to see it that way. She's going to assume that it's because of this baby."

"As long as _you_ realize that's not why I want to be with you, she can assume all she wants."

"You know my biggest fear about telling you this baby was yours, was that you would want to be with me out of some warped sense of obligation. And, I know you, Jason, you are an honorable man. If you would have made that commitment to be with me, just because of the baby, you would have kept it, no matter how miserable it made your life, no matter how much you wanted to be with someone else. I didn't want obligation, I wanted love."

"And I do. You know I don't say things that I don't mean."

"I know."

Knocking on the open door, Robin asks, "Am I interrupting?"

Elizabeth looks down at Jason, then over at Robin, "No, we're good."

"Great. Did you bring the stuff from Jason's? I'd like to get started testing on it. I'm hoping to get at least a few answers before this man signs himself out AMA."

Chuckling, knowing how right Robin was, Elizabeth hands her the bag of things that she found. "I grabbed whatever I saw that could possibly have been tampered with."

"Okay, I'm gonna take this and head over to the lab to start testing. You kids behave, okay?"

"Bye Robin."


	34. Chapter 34

_**A/N: Okay, I'm completely and totally disgusted with TIIC! Really?! You've got to be freakin' kidding me with this Elizabeth storyline they're pulling! I really hope that they are not trying to say the she messed with the DNA results so that Sam wouldn't get her baby back. I mean really? She's a mother that has lost not one, but THREE, children – she KNOWS what that feels like and you're gonna tell me that she would purposely do that to another mother just to get a man KNOWING that Jason HATES liars.**_

_**Okay, climbing down off my soapbox now. On with MY story (which, hopefully, is better than the crap TIIC are shoveling on my TV!)….**_

**Chapter Thirty-Four**

"Max! Get in here!" the mob boss shouted.

Closing the phone, the bodyguard walks into the room, "Yeah, boss?"

"Any updates from the guards yet?"

"I just got off the phone with Mick, he says that Carly's headed to New York to do some shopping. Carter is going to meet him there and they will keep an eye on her, just in case. Shawn called just before that and said that Sam is still at Spencer's house. And, no he didn't watch to see if they did the deed."

"Knowing Sam and Lucky, they probably did, not that I care. I just don't want them plotting against Jason and Elizabeth."

"Boss, can I ask you? Why all this sudden concern for Miss Webber? She hasn't been on your radar in a really long time," the guard stated, knowing that it could be dangerous for him to openly question his boss so bluntly.

"No, you're right, Max, she hasn't. But, she and I used to be friends. And, Jason, well, you know he's like a brother to me. After the things Carly said to me the other day, I started wondering how much of a role she had in changing all of that. She alluded to the fact that she got Elizabeth out of Jason's life once, and she obviously wants to do it again. You've been around for a while, what do you remember about Jason and Elizabeth's relationship? How close were they?"

"Well boss, from what I remember Johnny and Francis saying, they were trying to start a romantic relationship around the time that she was staying with Jason, you know when you faked your death? When she and that Zander kid were staying with Jason because of the threat from Alcazar? From what they said, Jason not telling her that you were dead and constantly being away to guard Courtney when she was stripping at The Oasis, all on your orders is what led her to break up with him. I remember that she would always wait up for him at night. She would sometimes come out and ask me if I had heard from Jason, if I knew whether or not he was alright. I guess she was worried that he would come home shot or something, or maybe that he wouldn't come home at all. Francis could probably tell you more, if you want, he and Johnny were her primary guards, and since you can't ask Johnny…." he trailed off.

"Alright, thanks Max. I do remember that time, you know, Carly was the one pushing, telling me that I shouldn't tell anyone else. She would say that she didn't want anyone to unknowingly give it away that I was still alive. She asked me not to tell Courtney and Mike, too."

"Kinda makes you wonder, though, doesn't it, boss?"

"Yeah, especially thinking about how loyal Elizabeth is and that she lied to everyone when Jason stayed with her all those years ago. I don't know. Maybe that was just Carly being selfish and enjoying the attention she got from her husband being 'dead'." Sonny was quiet for a few minutes, and while he can fully admit to Carly being selfish, there was something that just made that whole thing smell rotten. Finally, he asked, "Jason has Francis on Elizabeth again, doesn't he?"

"Yeah, did you want to talk to him?"

"Yes, call him and ask him to come see me when he's relieved."

"Sure thing boss."

Several hours later, Max announced Francis and let him in. "Hey Francis, how are things going with Elizabeth?"

Francis realized that Jason hadn't called Sonny to let him know that he was in the hospital. "It's fine, I'm just trying to keep the sharks at bay." He was going to let Jason fill him in on what had happened today at Kelly's. All Francis wanted to do was get some shut-eye before he was on duty again tomorrow.

"You were Elizabeth's guard a few years ago, right?"

"Yes, sir. Johnny and I were her primary guards."

"What happened between Elizabeth and Jason? Was it the fact that I told Jason not to tell Elizabeth that I wasn't dead the reason she broke it off with him? Be honest."

Stunned and confused about why his boss was asking these questions, he hesitated in giving Sonny an answer.

"Francis, Max told me that you mentioned that it was Jason lying to her that caused her to break it off with him. You were obviously around her more, just tell me if it's true or not, just be straight up with me."

"Okay Sonny, yes, she got angry that Jason was keeping the secret from him. It made her feel as if he didn't trust her enough to tell her the truth. She told me later, that it wasn't so much that he didn't tell her that you were alive; it's that he didn't tell her anything at all. If you want my honest opinion, I think that he stayed away so much to keep from outright lying to her. It made her worry for him; it made her worry about his safety. She thought that because you were dead, he was looking for your killer and was out for revenge. When she found out that he was sitting in a strip club every night, safe and sound, watching your sister, on your orders, well, you can guess how that didn't go over well."

Sonny sat back on his sofa, taking in all that the bodyguard had told him. Slowly shaking his head yes, "Yeah, I can see now how bad that must have made Jason look. I get why she was mad. Did he go after her or anything?"

"No. You know how protective Jason is of her. He believed that she was safer out this lifestyle. He knew there might come a time when he would have to keep something from her. He told me once, just after she left, that he wished he hadn't had to lie to her. He didn't want to hurt her, but he did anyways, on your orders. There might come a time when he would have to do it again. If this was the only way to avoid hurting her again, then he would just let her go."

"Thank you for telling me, Francis."

"Can I ask why you wanted to know?"

"Something Carly said had me wondering, and I was just trying to clear it up, at least in my own mind. I wasn't really paying attention to anyone else back then, and Elizabeth just got lost in the shuffle. It's no excuse, it's just what happened. Go home and get some sleep, Francis. I know you're back on early in the morning."

With that, Francis nodded and walked out. Sonny sat on his sofa and thought about everything the guards had told him that day. There was something there, just in the back of his mind, but no matter how hard he tried to grab on to it, the thought just wouldn't come. It was something important, he knew it. He would just have to keep thinking about it, and hopefully it would come to him sooner or later.


	35. Chapter 35

_**A/N: I absolutely REFUSE to watch that travesty that TIIC have done with this Spam baby switch storyline. I don't give a rat's ass what those writers were thinking – they have Elizabeth SO far out of character – it's fucking ridiculous! I know that she is no freakin' saint, but puh-lease! After Elizabeth has lost not one but THREE babies, I cannot see her putting another mother – EVEN SPAM – through the hell of losing a child. ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! **_

_**I saw the other day from Steve's tweets that his last air date is like the 22**__**nd**__** or 23**__**rd**__**, so there's not really enough time to turn this s/l around. I'm so done with this show! Now the muse is pissed and sulking in a corner. I had to offer lots of chocolate to try to re-inspire her…..**_

**Chapter Thirty-Five**

"Come here," he says softly.

Walking over to him, she looks at him, "Here I am."

"Closer, please."

"How close am I supposed to get?"

Reaching out and grabbing her hand, he pulls her down in the bed with him, and wraps his arms around her, "This close."

"Is this better then?" she asks as she snuggles into his side and lays her head on his shoulder.

"Much," he replies, nuzzling his face in her hair. "Are we okay, now?"

Sighing, "Yes. I'm sorry, I don't know why I got so crazy."

"S'ok. As long as you realize that I'm not going anywhere, and it's because I love you."

"I do. And I love you, too."

"How long do you think those tests are gonna take?"

"A couple of hours, at least, I would think. Why don't you try to get some sleep?"

"Are you staying with me, or are you going home tonight?"

"I was planning on staying, if that's okay with you."

"Good, cause I was gonna ask you to stay."

"Now that that's settled…sleep!"

"Bossy, much?"

"You know it. I just want you to heal, and sleep will help you heal that much faster."

"I'll try. Wake me when Robin and Patrick come back in."

"I want to ask you something."

"Sure."

"Robin told me that you granted me Power of Attorney regarding your medical decisions, when have you had time to do that?"

"What do you mean, it's been like that for years."

Pushing back from him slightly so that she could look up at him, "What?"

"What? What?"

"What do you mean it's been like that for years?"

"Just what I said. I think I set that up in '02."

"Four years ago, and this is the first I'm hearing about it!"

"It just made sense. I never considered changing it."

"OK, I'm officially floored. You know what, go to sleep, I'll wake you when the doctors get here."

"Did I do something wrong?"

"No, Jase, not at all."

Not really aware of how tired he was, he closed his eyes and was asleep within moments.

A few minutes later, Emily poked her head into the room and whispered Elizabeth's name. Looking up, she motioned Em outside and slowly extricated herself from Jason. Closing the door behind her, she greets her best friend. "Hey Em."

"Hey. How's he doing?"

"He just fell asleep a few minutes ago. He was more tired than he let on, and I know he's in pain."

"I'm sure. You just keep an eye on him, but don't overexert yourself, okay?"

"I'll be fine, Em. Besides, I'm in a hospital, I don't think Epiphany will let me, even if I were inclined to."

"Good. I just wanted to stop in before I picked up Cam from the daycare and let you know that I've got him. Just call me if there are any updates, or if I need to keep Cam longer."

"I will, and thanks again for doing this. I know Cam's gonna have a great time with his cousin."

"Do you want me to bring him up to say goodbye?"

"No, I stopped by there a little while ago and let him know that his Aunt Emily would be picking him up for a sleepover. Besides, he's getting fond of Jason, and I don't want him to worry if he sees him in the hospital. Maybe tomorrow, if Jason is forced to stay another night."

Hugging her best friend, she turns and goes back into Jason's room. Not wanting to disturb him, she sits down in the chair beside the bed to wait.

"Come back up here," a voice startles her out of her thoughts.

"Jason, I thought you were asleep."

"Not asleep enough to notice you were gone."

"You need your rest, not to be crowded into that small bed by me."

"I'll get more rest if you're up here with me, and I don't have to worry about where you are. Besides, you don't take up that much space."

"Maybe not yet, but I will soon."

"I don't plan on being here that long," he chuckled. "Come on, it's been a rough day, you're pregnant and you could use some rest, too."

"It's not even 6 o'clock yet, Jason. I'm fine. You need your rest."

"But you and our baby will be more comfortable up here in the bed with me."

"You're not going to let this go, are you? You do realize that I'm used to long hours on my feet, right?"

"No, and yes. Now, get up here."

Sighing, she climbed up into the bed with him and curled back into him, "You know, you're not always going to win, right?"

"I know." And he promptly fell back to sleep.

Outside the door, a figure had listened to the conversation, seething with anger to discover that the young nurse was pregnant by the enforcer. Vowing to get the woman away from the man, he walked away, trying to come up with a plan, not realizing that he had been seen by another person who cared very much for the two occupants of the room he'd been eavesdropping on.


	36. Chapter 36

_**A/N: OMG – I swear the muse is so super pissed at TIIC, it's almost impossible to coax anything out of her these days! I still simply refuse to watch them desecrate Elizabeth's character! I'm so upset about them actually having her switch the test out – it really pisses me off that they did that! I am curious to see if Sean Kanan is coming in to replace Steve as Jason – I think that he is the only person that I can actually see that would fit as a replacement for Steve. Although, I'm really hoping that they don't replace Steve and that they leave it open for Steve to come back at a later date (if the show is still on at a later date!). OK…on with the story! **_

**Chapter Thirty-Six**

Elizabeth woke to the light knock on the door, "Come in."

Robin opens the door to find Jason and Elizabeth curled up in each other, "Hey, did you guys get some sleep?"

"Yeah, it would seem so," Jason's gravelly sleep voice said.

"Okay, I just wanted to let you know where I am on the testing."

"Have you found anything from Jason's that was tampered with?"

"Yeah, a couple of things, actually. Whoever's doing this is pretty smart. They did mix the scopolamine with the aspirin, but they also put it in with one of the vitamins, the Vitamin A from the GNC store. The person that's done this would know that you won't be taking either pill every day, and there are only trace amounts in each of the bottles. Not enough to make you a complete zombie, just enough for you to be open to the occasional suggestion. Do you always buy the pills from the same store, and then keep them in the same place in your penthouse, Jason?"

"Yeah, I usually just get the Bayer aspirin from wherever and the Vitamin A from the GNC store. Why would that matter?"

"I would guess because you would notice a difference if you just grabbed whatever brand of each and not the same specific brand every time. Those types of pills tend to leave a dusting behind, so you wouldn't notice anything different, then say if you got a drugstore brand of Vitamin A, it might be a different color and the powdered scopolamine would stand out."

"Wow, somebody has gone to a lot of trouble to try and drug you, Jase. Who would do that? Why would they do that?"

"That's the sixty-four thousand dollar question, isn't it?" Jason responded drily. "Can you tell how long I've been given this stuff?"

"I'll have to do some more blood work and take a sample of your hair for some more testing, but right now, my best guess from the levels in your system, it would be at least four years."

"2002? Oh my God, Robin, you've got to be kidding me?"

"I really wish I was. The bad thing is, we didn't have access to the equipment to test for scopolamine when I treated you back in 2005, otherwise, I would have found it then. I'm really sorry, Jason."

"Robin, it's not your fault, you found it now, and I know that I have to start looking at the people close to me for the answer. It's a very small pool of suspects, and I really don't like the thought that someone I consider family would do this to me, or for what purpose."

"I'll do my best to help you get to the bottom of this, okay?" the young doctor stated. "For now, let me just get those samples, and I'll get back to the lab."

Nodding his head in agreement, Jason allows Robin to take the samples she needs. "Hey, Robin, don't spend all night in the lab. The tests can wait a couple of days. I've gone this long without knowing, another couple of days won't hurt. Besides, you need to rest, too."

Smiling at the couple, she nods and leaves them to their thoughts and each other. Knowing that Jason was going to have a hard time dealing with someone close to him drugging him, for whatever reason, so she would get some rest, but, she would do it while she was getting answers for her friends. Robin can only hope and pray that it is not Sonny that has done this to Jason. She will never forgive herself if it turns out to be him, since she is the one who introduced the two to begin with. Plus, she can't reconcile this monster with the man she has known since she was in love with Stone all those years ago.

Left alone in the hospital room, Jason could only lay there and stare at the ceiling. He honestly couldn't imagine anyone that he knew that would drug him for some hidden agenda. What that agenda was, well, he supposed that would just be discovered when he found out who the culprit was. There were only three people, aside from the guards, that he could think of that had had constant access to his home in the last four years. Immediately ruling out his sister, which narrowed the suspect pool to two. Ironically, his two "best friends". The only other scenario he could come up with was his ex-wife had started it, Sam found out about it, and picked up where she left off. Both of those options had his anger boiling.

Leaving Jason to his thoughts for a few minutes, Elizabeth lay curled in his arms. She hoped that he wouldn't push her away while he tried to process all that Robin had told them. She was so angry at whoever had done this to him. Shaking her head, she could think of a couple people that wouldn't mind controlling Jason, but she can't imagine that they would go so far as to drug him to do it.

"What?" he asks.

"Huh?"

"You were shaking your head no. Why?"

"I'm probably thinking the same thing you are. And I can't imagine anyone you know that would want to drug you. It just doesn't make sense to me."

"My guess is that it won't make sense to us. I think that it will only make sense to the person who has done this to me." He lay quietly for a few minutes before his hand curled into a fist and he hit the bed, as hard as he could. He was angry!

Understanding that he was angry, and he had every right to be, Elizabeth tried to soothe him as best she could. Although, she had a feeling as to whom his thoughts were leading him, and completely understood his anger. But, getting this angry while his head was already hurting badly was not going to help him right now. He wouldn't really been able to think clearly with the headache she knew that he had. So, she curled as tightly into him as her expanding belly would allow. She hoped that being able to feel their baby would help him calm down. As if on cue, the fluttering in her belly began. Jason stilled immediately.

"What…what was that?"

"That, Mr. Morgan, is your baby. My guess is that he's saying 'Hello' and he's hoping that his daddy will calm down until he can find the answers to all his questions."

"Wow. What does that feel like for you?" he asked, fascinated.

"A bit like belly gas, I suppose. It's like a fluttering that just runs across my stomach. He's got a lot of room in there right now, so he's making use of it."

Unclenching his fist, he hesitantly moves his hand towards her slightly protruding stomach. "It's okay, Jason. Here," she says, lifting up her shirt to just under her breasts. Grabbing his hand she flattens it against the skin, so that he can get a better feel of his child. Again, the fluttering starts, and Jason's eyes widen in amazement at feeling his child for the first time. Slowly sliding his hand around on her silken skin, the amazement turns rapidly into desire. Elizabeth sees the darkening of his eyes as his lips descend upon hers in a hungry kiss. Tongues, once again, dueling for dominance, they kiss until neither can breathe and they give in to the demand for air.

Taking deep, ragged breaths, "Ja…..Jason."

"Shhhhhhh…..I know. It's not the right time or place for this. I just…..I couldn't help myself. It reminded me so much of the first night we made love."

"The first night? Care to tell me when there have been others that I have missed?"

He had forgotten for a moment that she didn't recall their other life together, he quickly recovers, "It's a given that I want to make love to you again. I'm hoping that you want the same. Which means there will be a second, third, fourth…..are you seeing a pattern here?"

Laughing at his almost boyish exuberance, "Yes, I do want the same. I want to make love to you again and again….just not in a hospital bed. If you can't control yourself, then I'm just going to have to stay on the other side of the room," she teased him.

Hugging her close to him, "No way, I've got you, and I'm not letting you go…..ever again."

Smiling at him, she laid her head back on his shoulder to wait things out. Encouraging him to relax, she slowly rubbed her hand up and down his chest in a soothing motion. Finally, after about half an hour, she had coaxed him into a light sleep.


	37. Chapter 37

_**A/N: I don't know about you guys, but that crappy Jason exit and that stupid Sam waking "dream" that she had today, not to mention that completely horrible explanation of how AJ survived – the writers are completely f'ing the storylines all to hell and back. Are they trying to tank the show? It's no wonder Steve wanted to leave – I would have run out of the building so fast you would have thought my ASS was on fire – and never looked back! WTF? That was some of the lamest shit I have ever seen in my life! Don't get me wrong – I haven't actually been watching the show since mid-Dec 2008, when they broke up our couple, but I've kept up with stuff online here and there (youtube is a great thing), just to see any of those beautiful Liason moments. Hell, it's no wonder that all of our muses have run and hid, shaking under the covers, refusing to come out! I had to peruse youtube for a week just to get a snippet out of my muse! So, without further ado, here it is…..**_

**Chapter Thirty-Seven**

Sam was pissed. How dare that fucking bitch demand that Jason tell her that he doesn't want to see her! Oh, she can see it perfectly. 'Jason, if you don't stay away from Sam, I will never let you see your baby. I will run away somewhere that you will never find us.' One night. One fucking night and that bitch in heat had managed to steal everything she has worked so hard for in the last three years. She actually stopped running cons for that man and this….this…..this mousy, flat-chested, waif of a nurse blows in and rips her whole world apart? No way. Not if she has anything to say about it. She _knows_ that Jason loves her. She's been with enough men to know the difference between when a man lusts after a woman's body and when a man looks at you with love. And Jason definitely looked at her with love.

She tried to ignore the voice in the back of her head that was telling her that while Jason might have looked at her with love; but those looks weren't half as tender or intense as the looks that he sent to Elizabeth. Sam didn't want to think about the fact that he might have been in love with the nurse long before she ever set foot in Port Charles. She wanted to not remember the nights last year when Jason's memory was returning and he shut down on her, wouldn't tell her what he remembered, and cried when he thought she was asleep. She didn't want to recall that a couple of those times she had heard him whisper Elizabeth's name, not hers. She refused to think about that damn Power of Attorney in his medical file, and the one she had to forge to get the doctor's to listen to _her_ about Jason's treatment in 2005.

'NO!' she thought to herself. 'He's mine, and that's the way it's going to stay!'

Wandering through the park, she came to a curve in the pathway and heard a couple of people talking. Hearing one of them mention Lucky's name, she stopped to listen more closely. The cops were discussing how they had had to arrest their colleague because he assaulted a mobster. Talk about ironic! Sam couldn't believe it, what was Lucky thinking?

Quietly making her way, away from the cops, she turned and headed towards the PCPD. She was hoping for a few minutes to talk to him.

Surprised to find him handcuffed in one of the interrogation rooms, she quietly slipped into the room with him. Hoping that none of the cops would notice her for a little while, she sat down across the table from him.

Looking up bleakly at the ex-con, "What are you doing here?"

"I just found out that you were arrested and I wanted to come check on you, find out how you were doing," she replied, as if it were the most natural thing in the world for her to be concerned about him.

"Well, let's see, I've found out that my wife had an affair, is pregnant by a mobster, went binge drinking after just getting clean, had sex with a mobster's moll, tried to break a bat over the head of the man that fucked my wife, and ended up being arrested. Now, I'm probably going to lose my job and my apartment because I won't be able to afford it without a job," the soon-to-be ex-cop said, snidely. "And how are you doing, Sam?"

"There's no need to get nasty, Lucky. I'm in the same boat as you, remember?" she told him.

"Yeah, so you keep telling me. Really, why are you here?"

"I told you, I wanted to come and check on you. For some reason, I felt the need to make sure you are okay."

"I'm just peachy, really."

"Why did you do it? Why did you hit Jason with that bat?"

"Did you miss the part about my wife fucking Jason and having his brat?"

"Oh, no, I'm completely caught up on that situation. I was just over at the hospital, and Jason kicked me out of his hospital room. He said he didn't ask to see me and he didn't want to see me. I'm sure he only said that because your bitch wife told him that he couldn't see me if he wanted to see that brat she's carrying."

Smirking at Sam's thought process, "No, I'm fairly sure that he did that on his own. He's been panting after Elizabeth for years now. I imagine that he's just crowing now that he's gotten in her pants and one-upped me by getting her pregnant."

"What the hell do you mean Jason's been panting after Elizabeth for years? That's bullshit, Lucky, he's been with me for the last three years, and she's barely been on his radar until a few months ago."

"You just keep telling yourself that, Sam. He's been trying to get Elizabeth away from me since I was kidnapped in '99. Everyone thought I was dead, and he just moved right in on her. He's been after her ever since."

"Oh please, he never even mentioned her name until the beginning of the year. He didn't want her then, and he doesn't want her now. The only reason he slept with her is because I broke his heart and she happened to be there to take advantage of it."

"Whatever you say, if that's what you tell yourself so that you can sleep at night, then who am I to tell you any different. Besides, you'll figure it out soon enough on your own. Look, my lawyer should be here any minute, you need to get out of here."

"Just take care of yourself, okay?"

"Why do you care, Sam?"

Looking at the tabletop for a minute, she finally looks up at him, "Okay, so I could really use a friend right now. And you understand what I'm going through. I just think that maybe….maybe we could help each other out. Just think about it, okay?"

"Sure," he said, not really understanding why he agreed.

Standing up, she checked the bullpen and saw that no one was paying attention, so she slipped out, glancing back one last time and smiling almost shyly at Lucky. She turned and quickly walked away.


	38. Chapter 38

_**A/N: Wow! Talk about the muse just up and fleeing! She ran and hid…no amount of chocolate would coax a word out of her…I even tried beatings…nothing worked! Of course, the 50-60 hour work weeks did nothing to help the situation, either…and the fact that Steve isn't even on GH anymore….all very depressing…. **____** Anyway, I started re-reading the story from the beginning, then I just started typing and this is what came out….so I hope you all like it!**_

**Chapter Thirty-Eight**

Looking down at the beautiful woman, asleep in his arms, he couldn't help but thank God for the second chance he's been given to make things right with her, with their family. He can now recall, with perfect clarity, how Elizabeth tried, without words, to tell him what was in her heart. He remembers the questions she asked, and the disappointment in her eyes when he told her that it was for the best that Lucky was the baby's father. He could see her struggling with the weight of the lie she let everyone believe, trying to make everyone happy. Well, no more, he wasn't going to let what happened in the other timeline happen this time. This time he was going to claim what was theirs.

But try as he might, he can't get the thoughts of betrayal out of his head. How could someone do that to him? Always known for his ability to compartmentalize thoughts and feelings, he began to breakdown his relationships with those closest to him. He wanted to analyze their actions and behaviors over the last few years, see if there was a pattern to their movements, words and actions that he could pick up on. The good thing about his brain, if you can call brain damage a good thing, is that it gave him an almost eidetic memory. Considering that he's only been back in 2006 for a month, his memory recall is going to really help out. However, he is going to need some help for things that he wouldn't have any knowledge of. He's got to find a way to investigate his friends without using organization resources. He's going to need someone that can hack into the organization records without being caught by Stan. Remembering how good Spinelli is with computers, he's going to have to go out to the safe house that they were keeping him in, see if he can enlist the boy's help. Once he can figure out the who, they can tell him the why, but for now, the why doesn't matter. He's going to have to rely on himself for now, because even Elizabeth has only been around for the last year or so, so she's not going to remember what Carly and Sonny have been doing since 2002.

While being able to think without the anger did help, when he tried to focus on remembering and seeing patterns, well that did make his headache worse. He realized that he could think in terms of planning, just not remembering right now. Deciding to table his thoughts until he could really think about things, he shifted slightly in the bed.

For now, he wanted to focus on the changes that had happened since waking up back in 2006. It was strange to feel five years older, and in some ways five years more withdrawn from his own life. Since mid-December 2008, his life had truly gone to hell. Considering he could pinpoint the moment, to the day, to the second even, when his life had turned in the direction, he tried to use the distance of time to think about what the last couple of years of the other timeline had been like. Thinking on all that had happened since Jake was conceived, he realized that since walking away from his heart at the courthouse, he hadn't really been living, just existing. He never wanted that existence. He has always tried to keep the people he loves safe, such an improbability since no one can be safe every hour of every day. But, he knows the added dangers that his life involves. It is impossible to live without the dangers, and without the dangers you only exist. It's strange how it took something so completely tragic to make him realize how wrong he had been back then. So many things had gone wrong last time, he planned to do everything in his power to make sure that it didn't happen this time. However, he does realize that he might not be able to prevent certain events from happening, he might be able to minimize the effect to those he was most concerned about. Trying to remind himself that he's not Superman, he will do all he can to ensure that those he loves will come out of those events better than they did the first time they occurred.

"You're staring," the soft voice startled him out of his thoughts.

Focusing his eyes on the mother of his child, "I was actually just thinking. I guess I needed a beautiful backdrop considering what I was thinking about."

Blushing and ducking her head back under his chin, "So, what were you thinking about?"

"Aside from how beautiful you are?" he asked, teasing her. "Unfortunately, the past."

"That must be why you looked like you were concentrating so hard."

"Yeah. I'm also trying to plan how to figure out who's been drugging me."

Looking back up at him, she knows that it would be pointless to tell him not to do it, "Come up with anything?"

"A few ideas that are, unfortunately, all going to have to wait until I can get out of here."

"Did you want to share with the class?"

Getting the gist of her question, if not the full meaning, "I need to talk to that Spinelli kid, see if he will help me do some research on Sonny and Carly, Courtney and Sam. I want to see if I can find some sort of pattern of habit or purchases that coincides with when I bought the vitamins or aspirin. For that, I need to see bank records, credit card statements, trips, something that stands out on paper, but wouldn't stand out in memories. Does that make sense?"

"You mean like, if there was a certain time of month, or how often they did the same thing without it being strange for them to do?"

"Something like that. Take Carly, for example, I know that she likes to go shopping in New York. But, I can't tell you how often she goes, if it's once a month, or three times a year. Is it always on the same day?"

"Oh, I get it. If it's always on the same day, is it because that's the only day she has free that month, or is it more sinister?"

"Sinister?" he chuckles.

"Yes, sinister, what else would you call meeting someone to buy mind control drugs?"

"Stupid."

"You said it, not me."

"Well, if that's what she's doing, yes, I do call it stupid."

"She hasn't gotten caught, so far, how stupid can she be?"

"Touché."

"Seriously though, do you really think Carly would go so far as to drug you? I would be more inclined to think Sonny."

"Why would you say that?"

"Well, you already jump when Carly calls. She bellows, and you run to see what she needs. You may not like whatever it is she called you for, but you always go."

"Carly's done some stupid things and made everything worse when I haven't," he started. "But, I see what you mean. I do have a tendency to try to stop her before she goes off on her own, with some harebrained scheme."

"Whereas, with Sonny, you do sometimes have a backbone. You will do things your way, if it benefits, or you think he's being too unreasonable. I would think that gives him more motive for wanting you to being a 'Yes' man."

"A 'yes' man?"

"Yes Sonny, I will do your bidding without a thought of my own. Yes Sonny, I will handle that for you because you demanded it. Yes Sonny…."

"Okay, okay, I get it. A 'Yes' man. No that's a valid point. He does have the tendency to believe that I would betray him if I don't jump without asking permission first."

"That leaves Courtney and Sam. They would have had to work together, don't you think?"

"Not necessarily. If it was something that Courtney started, then say Sam caught her, or somehow found out about it. Maybe she just picked up where Courtney left off. That one is going to be a little harder to piece together."

"I wouldn't rule them out, though, Jason. Don't forget, Courtney was, at one point, addicted to drugs. A drug addict can convince themselves that what they are doing is completely okay. Then, you turn that into a woman fighting for her man and she can convince herself that anything is fair game."

Cocking his eyebrow at her, "Really?"

"Not me, you dork," she laughs at him, lightly slapping his arm. "I'm talking about sick women. Haven't you ever watched those shows on that Crime TV channel? Some women will do anything for their man, including kill."

"No, I really don't watch much TV. And, no, I would never want to inspire that kind of obsession. Thanks, but no thanks."

"It's not actually the man that inspires the obsession, it's the woman, because it's always what's in her head."

"Even still," he shudders at the thought.


	39. Chapter 39

_**Hey folks….I'm back with I hope is another enjoyable update…I know this has been slow going, but the muse is not cooperating very much. I've been watching old Liason YouTube videos from 2006 to get inspired…so, I hope this works but still fits into the story, and I've got some ideas for the next chapter, which I'm already working on, so stay tuned….I hope to have the next chapter posted sooner, rather than later! **___

**Chapter Thirty-Nine**

Since getting out of the hospital, Jason has been spending large amounts of time working with Spinelli on trying to find out what his friends, ex-wife and ex-girlfriend have been doing for the last four years. Trying to come up with a pattern to their movements, unfortunately, it has been very slow going. In order to avoid detection, the computer kid is working more slowly to ensure that he doesn't tip off the organization's computer tech to his digging. Not wanting the kid to get caught, Jason has been biting back his impatience and letting him work as slowly as he needs to, no sense in borrowing trouble. He'll have plenty of time to seek justice once he knows who he needs to deal with. He's replaced all of the tampered medication in his penthouse and is only taking the things that are kept at Elizabeth's. In the meantime, he and Elizabeth have been spending all of their free time together. Today, however, Elizabeth had to work a double shift, although Jason's not too thrilled about that. Unfortunately, a couple of the nurses were out with the flu, so she was called in to help cover for her sick colleagues. Now, he was finally going to be able to sit down and have that conversation with his sister that they didn't get to have the day he was admitted to the hospital.

Opening the door, Emily breezes in, hugging her big brother, "Jase, I'm so glad you're okay. I can't believe what Lucky did to you."

"Well, I won't say that I'm shocked he attacked me, he's done it before."

"How's everything with you and Elizabeth?"

Smiling at the thought of the petite nurse, "Great, actually. I'm glad for whatever powers in the universe that gave me this second chance with her."

"Yeah, well, I'm hoping for a different ending to my story, too."

Closing his eyes, not wanting to remember how he felt at Emily's untimely death, "Me too."

"So, we just have to make sure that things turn out differently."

"Alright, how do you propose that we do that?"

"Well, obviously we are already making changes to the future. We know what's supposed to happen and when, so we need to discuss how to minimize the damage of each of those events. You've already changed the outcome of Jake's paternity, and people are already finding out that he's not Lucky's son."

"Yeah, but that's just put a target on Elizabeth's back, so we may have a different set of problems come up from that change alone."

"True, but I know that you are going to do everything you can to keep them safe. So, the next big event is the MetroCourt hostage crisis. Do you think there is any way to actually prevent that from happening?"

"Probably not. My guess is that it's already in motion. I'm sure that Alcazar is currently making the deal, or has already made the deal, for the microchips. And the fundraiser has already been planned. So, unless we can get something moved up or changed to another venue, we probably can't stop them from happening."

"Okay, can we make sure that no one is in the lobby?"

"No, but we can try to make sure that no one pushes the silent alarm. If no one pushes the alarm, the vault won't close and there would be no reason for Jerry Jacks and his team to stay at the hotel."

"So, one of us will have to be in the lobby that night."

"Yeah, me."

"Why you, Jason?"

"Because I'm used to dealing with this kind of thing."

"Okay, but what if something does go wrong? If you are already in the lobby, there will be no way for you to get in to rescue anyone. You won't be able to overpower any of the guards without causing Jerry to detonate the C-4 he had placed around the lobby."

"Yeah, like I did such a great job at that last time anyway."

"Jase, don't. Seriously, it has to be me. I've already been through it, so I know what to expect. You have to be outside, just in case. I know you don't want to put anyone at risk, but there's no way around it. Besides, I'm the only one of us qualified to do the surgery if Robin gets shot again, or anyone else, for that matter."

"I don't like it. And I don't want Elizabeth involved. You know that if you're in the lobby, that's where she's going to be."

"Not necessarily, last time she was waiting with us in the lobby for Lucky. If you are there with her, she can safely be upstairs at the fundraiser. Or, you two can just avoid going to the fundraiser altogether. We all know how much you hate those types of parties."

"But then why would you be in the lobby? And, if Elizabeth wants to go, you know that I will go to make her happy."

"God, this is more complicated than I thought it would be. What about just cutting the wires on the silent alarm? Is there a way to do that, so none of us have to be in the lobby?"

"I don't know, but maybe I'll have Spinelli look into it. If there's a way to do it without tripping the alarm beforehand, that actually might work."

"Okay, so we'll go with that unless we need to think of something else. Then there's Jake's birth, you killing Alcazar, your trial, the Black and White Ball, Nicholas' illness, the Text Message Killer, the list goes on and on."

"You do realize that we are not going to solve everything in one day, right?"

Smirking at her big brother, "Yeah Jase, I know. There's just so much that happens between now and then."

"And several things that we don't know about because of all the things that we are going to try to change," he remarks, drily.

"Well, there is that. I guess we are just going to have to take things as they come. Try not to get too far ahead of ourselves."

"That's probably a good idea. I know I've got some damage control because of not following up on Diego's so-called death, too. I have to try and figure out how to keep him from becoming the TMK. My main concern is keeping you alive, so I need to decide how to handle that."

"Can you avoid killing Alcazar?"

"I don't know. Probably not, and I really shouldn't be talking to you about that."

"Please Jase, it's not like I don't know what you do for a living."

"Anyway, I'd still rather not have you involved in my business."

"I get that."

"Sonny's order isn't really the only reason for getting rid of Alcazar, I also did it to help Skye and Lila Rae."

"Really?"

"Yeah, Lorenzo had taken her away from Skye as a punishment. After she got her back, I had to help protect them from him. She came to us for help."

"Okay, so if you have to get rid of Alcazar, you either have to get rid of Diego first, or after, but before he goes on a killing spree."

"I'll worry about him after the hostage crisis. I'm going to have to figure that one out on my own, I really don't want you involved."

"Sure, Jase, whatever you say."

"Seriously Em, stay out of it."

"I will, I promise. I don't wanna wind up dead again. Okay, look, I'm gonna get outta here, head back to Nicholas. Call me if you need anything."

"Yeah, I will. I'll let you know what Spinelli thinks about the silent alarm at the MetroCourt." Getting up and walking her to the door, he hugged her before she left, promising to be careful.


End file.
